Tame won’t fly the Cuenca – Guayaquil route for at least a year

Just three days after government-owned Tame Airlines said it was extending its suspension of flights between Cuenca and Guayaquil to 120 days, Ecuador’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) authorized the carrier to drop the route for a full year.

A Tame jet at the Cuenca airport.

In the same announcement, the DGAC also granted Tame permission to suspend its Latacunga to Guayaquil flight for a year. The suspension period for both routes begins June 2.

When Tame first announced it was suspending the Cuenca to Guayaquil route April 17, it was operating 19 flights a week between the cities. At the time, the airline said the suspension was for 60 days but on Tuesday it announced it was extending the suspension for another 60 days.

According to government authorities, Tame is in negotiations with two commercial carriers about taking over majority ownership of the airline. Tame has lost money for each of the last five years.

Officials at Cuenca’s Mariscal La Mar Airport have been in discussions with other airlines about assuming the Guayaquil route but no announcement has been made of developments.