Originally Posted by
ojala
1.5h transit time doesn't exactly leave much time to vacation in Ecuador ;-)
From our local travel agency I can get the two tickets (three actually, we will fly to Havanna from PTY) on the same itienary but the costs is a bit higher than separate tickets through the airlines' web sites. But being unfamiliar with both AeroGal and Copa, and GYE airport, and airports in South America in general, the first problem was to see if 1.5h transfer is feasible at all. In the US I probably wouldn't do it and they don't understand the concept of being in transit, in Europe I would do it except in LHR.
Copa's web check-in says that for international flights, one must identify oneself at the gate one hour prior to the flight's scheduled departure. Starts to get a bit tight unless there's a good transit possibility in GYE..
Like Adam said, there's no bypassing transit area in GYE for domestic arrivals (only international arrivals). The only ones that can bypass immigration are international flights going to GYE, then continue to UIO or international destinations. Hence, those who continue to UIO do not pass thru GYE immigration.
Since you're not passing thru immigration in the Galapagos island (you can only do that in Quito or Guayaquil) then you must present yourself thru GYE immigration.
Jose Joaquin de Olmedo is a two level airport. The first level is domestic check-in stations, international and domestic arrivals. International check-in stations are located on the second level of the airport and considering that departure is at 3:50, you have enough time to check-in, go thru immigration and be at the gate area, as long as the incoming flight from Galapagos is not delayed by an 1 1/2 hours.
Like you stated, just do web check-in and get your boarding pass. After that pay the departure tax at the Banco de Guayaquil tellers, located on the left hand side of the building and which is next to the immigration entrance, guarded by one or two guards asking for boarding pass and passport.
It's very easy to locate all the above !