Cuenca Airport Talks Move From Weather Data To Road Access

Cuenca’s new-airport conversation is moving into a more practical phase: early weather information, road access, and whether Tarqui can actually support the kind of project people keep talking about.

José Luis Aguilar, director of Corpac, said the information gathered so far generally confirms suitable conditions for air operations. That is the encouraging part.

The caveat is important: the meteorological study is still preliminary, must be completed with three to five years of information, and could even add a third station.

Why This Matters

Fog was one of the big concerns for future air navigation, but the first analyses do not treat it as an obstacle. A Canadian consultant is handling the weather evaluation, and the next technical steps include pre-feasibility work, soil studies, and engineering designs.

That is still not a finished airport plan. It is the kind of slow technical groundwork that has to happen before anyone can responsibly price or approve the project.

Watch The Roads

Cristina Garcia, an architect with the Asamblea Ciudadana por la Vialidad del Azuay, said the Tarqui airport proposal is not new and has technical history behind it. She also warned that the project has to be planned with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport.

Her practical point is the one expats should watch: a future airport needs to connect with the future southern access route toward Yunguilla, Machala, Pasaje, and the wider Austro region.

Garcia proposed dialogue tables with the academy, Cuenca Municipality, Azuay Prefecture, MIT, residents, and productive-sector representatives. She also recalled that the citizen assembly raised the need in 2023 to push the southern access, maintain five road axes, and advance the new airport.

The Bottom Line

Patricio Segarra, an architect and territorial-planning researcher, put it plainly: an airport requires planning for the whole surroundings, not only a runway and terminal.

For Cuenca residents, that means the airport story is also a road, public transport, utilities, logistics, hotel, business, commerce, parking, and green-space story. The runway is only one piece.