The work is one consignment, one cabin, one signature. You collect it in or near Manta, you keep it with you, you present the prepared paperwork at customs and you hand it over in person. What makes Manta useful is that Guayaquil José Joaquín de Olmedo is only 196 km away, so the collection and the departure can happen in the same afternoon.
Open · Ecuador desk · Manta
On Board Courier, Manta
Carry sealed, urgent consignments out of Manta. GYE sits 196 km south east of the city and flies to 16 airports without a change of aircraft.
OnBoard Courier is a United Arab Emirates company, contracted by ICSL FZE and run from Dubai. A city named on this site is a place we cover and route through, not a separate company in that city. Assignments are contracted under UAE law, and the terms are published in full under legal and policies.
Based inManta, Manabí
Nearest gateGYE · Guayaquil
Drive to the aircraft196 km · 2 hours 43 minutes
Nonstop from GYE16 airports
EngagementFreelance · per assignment
Fee per assignmentAED 900 to 2,600
Apply for this position
Applying is free. Freelance · self-employed ·
posted 7 September 2026 · open until 7 March 2027
What the work pays
The fee for an assignment is agreed with you in writing before you accept it. These are the figures the site publishes, and what the desk covers on top of them.
Top published feeAED 2,000The highest fee the site shows for a single assignment: sealed medical samples in a cooled case, Dubai to Singapore.
Published band, per assignmentAED 900 to 2,600A document pouch to London is AED 1,200, an aircraft part to Frankfurt AED 1,500, an escorted watch on the Berlin lane AED 1,800.
What the flight costs youAED 0The desk books and pays the ticket, the transfers and, where the routing needs it, the hotel. A courier never fronts the fare.
The one payment you makeAED 199, returnedThe Academy, paid once. It comes back in full on top of the fee for your first completed assignment. Applying itself is free.
Fees vary with the lane, the notice, the waiting time and whether the return is immediate, so the desk quotes each assignment individually rather than pretending one number fits every trip. You are self-employed and there is no minimum: accept or decline whatever you like, and declining costs you nothing. Earnings are paid per delivery by bank transfer, they appear in your courier portal, and you can request a payout once the balance reaches AED 200. Apply and see the flight board.
You fly as a passengerOne consignment in the cabin, one handover against signature. No warehouse, no van, no round.
The desk books and pays the ticketFlight, transfers and, where the routing needs it, a hotel are booked before you leave for the airport.
Paid per assignmentA fee agreed in writing before you accept, paid to your bank account after the signature. Applying is free.
How to start, in four steps
1
Apply once
One application covers every country desk. Tell us which passports you hold and where you can travel.
2
Verification and the Academy
Identity and background check, then a short course on customs, handovers and chain of custody.
3
Your first offer
The desk sends the routing, the dates and the fee in writing. You accept or decline, nothing is automatic.
4
Fly, hand over, get paid
Collect, board, clear customs in person, hand over against signature, and the fee is paid to your account.
The assignment
From the offer to the handover, a trip out of GYE tends to run under thirty hours. 2 hours 43 minutes to Guayaquil José Joaquín de Olmedo, the sector itself, customs at the far end, and a signature. Where the routing runs through the Emirates it goes by way of JFK, on one ticket, with the connection booked long enough to be real. Everything outside the cabin, the transfers, the hotel where the routing needs one, is booked and paid by the desk.
Getting to the aircraft from Manta
A courier in Manta is only as fast as the road in front of them. Manta to GYE is 196 km, 2 hours 43 minutes, and the airports below are ordered by that drive rather than by size.
2 hours 43 minutes on the road is a real commitment and the desk treats it as one. The offer will say when you need to leave Manta, and an overnight near GYE is booked and paid for when the timings do not work otherwise. There is no alternative airport for Manta. When GYE has no suitable departure the assignment moves to another city rather than waiting, and the desk says so rather than pretending.
| IATA | Airport | By road | Driving time | Nonstop |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GYE | Guayaquil José Joaquín de Olmedo | 196 km | 2 hours 43 minutes | 16 |
Manta is a city of 264,000 people in Manabí, and the clock there runs 9 hours behind the Emirates all year. Road distances are measured driving routes rather than straight lines, and nonstop counts come from the scheduled route data this site publishes. Only airports this site publishes a scheduled nonstop board for are listed, so a smaller field nearer Manta may exist and still not appear in the table above.
What GYE reaches without a change
GYE publishes 16 nonstop routes. For a courier in Manta that is the difference between waiting for tomorrow and boarding tonight, so the busiest of them are set out below with their operators.
| IATA | City | Airport | Frequency | Operators |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UIO | Quito | Quito Mariscal Sucre | about 17 departures a day | 2 operators: Avianca, LATAM |
| PTY | Tocumen | Tocumen | about 7 departures a day | 1 operator: Copa Airlines |
| GPS | Baltra | Baltra Seymour | about 5 departures a day | 2 operators: Avianca, LATAM |
| BOG | Bogotá | Bogotá El Dorado | about 4 departures a day | 1 operator: Avianca |
| JFK | New York | New York John F Kennedy | about 3 departures a day | 3 operators: Avianca, LATAM, JetBlue |
| SCY | San Cristóbal | San Cristóbal | about 3 departures a day | 2 operators: Avianca, LATAM |
| MAD | Madrid | Madrid Adolfo Suárez-Barajas | about one departure a day | 2 operators: Air Europa, Iberia |
| MIA | Miami | Miami | about one departure a day | 2 operators: Avianca, American Airlines |
| FLL | Fort Lauderdale | Fort Lauderdale Hollywood | about one departure a day | 1 operator: JetBlue |
| SCL | Santiago | Santiago Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez | about one departure a day | 1 operator: LATAM |
Counting every airport a courier in Manta can drive to, the combined nonstop board is 16 airports. Frequencies are average daily flights and change with the season, so the desk checks the live schedule before it offers you anything.
What moves out of Manta
There is no published industrial map for the GYE area on this site, and a page that made one up would be worthless. The traffic out of Manta is the normal kind: documents that have to be witnessed, parts that stopped something, and samples with a clock on them.
Why a courier in Manta is useful to the desk
There is a second reason Manta matters, and it is the return leg. A courier who lives here can take a consignment inbound to Manabí and be home the same evening, which is cheaper and faster than flying somebody out from the Gulf and back.
A change of aircraft stands between Manta and the Gulf, which changes the timings rather than the work. From Mantthe best single change is New York (JFK), and JFK to DXB is flown by Emirates, about 3 departures a day. Counting a normal connection that is around 21h 13m gate to gate, so an assignment between Manta and the Emirates is planned as a connecting itinerary and the desk books the whole thing on one ticket.
The nearest other cities on the Ecuador list
Show the 11 closest, and how far each is from Manta
Portoviejo33 km away, GYE in 2 hours 41 minutesQuevedo141 km away, GYE in 2 hours 57 minutesGuayaquil167 km away, GYE in 11 minutesSanto Domingo de los Colorados189 km away, UIO in 2 hours 50 minutesLatacunga235 km away, UIO in 1 hour 51 minutesAmbato237 km away, UIO in 2 hours 24 minutesRiobamba244 km away, GYE in 3 hours 9 minutesQuito258 km away, UIO in 43 minutesMachala271 km away, GYE in 2 hours 57 minutesCuenca290 km away, GYE in 3 hours 33 minutesIbarra324 km away, UIO in 1 hour 37 minutes
All 12 Ecuador cities are listed on the Ecuador courier desk, which stays the general application for the country.
The engagement, and who we are looking for
The engagement
- Type: freelance, self-employed. You are an independent courier accepting individual assignments, not an employee, and you decide which ones you take.
- Where it runs: assignments are flown out of GYE, between Ecuador and wherever the consignment is going, with the return leg agreed per mission.
- Hours: variable. An assignment is a single trip, not a shift or a roster.
- How you are paid: a fee per completed assignment, agreed in writing before you accept it. The fees published on this site run from AED 1,200 for a document pouch to AED 2,000 for a cooled medical consignment, and the figure for your assignment reflects the lane, the notice, the waiting time and whether the return is immediate.
- What the desk pays: the flight, the transfers and, where the routing needs it, the hotel. A courier never pays for the ticket and never fronts the fare.
- Applying is free. No payment is required to apply, to be screened or to be placed on the courier list. The Academy costs AED 199, paid once, and is returned in full on top of the fee for your first completed assignment. It is the only payment a courier ever makes to us.
What we look for
- A passport with comfortable remaining validity and free pages, and the right to enter the country on the routing. The desk checks the visa position for your specific passport before any assignment is offered.
- A clean background check and a willingness to be verified. Couriers carry other people’s property.
- Availability at short notice, and a realistic view of the 2 hours 43 minutes drive to GYE. Most assignments are confirmed hours, not days, before departure.
- Presentable, calm and articulate at a customs counter. The consignment is only as smooth as the person carrying it.
- A working phone, reachable on the number you gave us, for the whole assignment.
What we provide
- The ticket. Always. A courier never pays for the flight and never fronts the fare.
- The paperwork, prepared before you reach GYE, and a named contact at the desk on both ends.
- A briefing on the consignment, the consignee and what the customs position at the far end looks like.
- A fee per completed assignment, agreed with you in advance and paid by bank transfer after the handover.
Questions about the Manta list
01How far is Manta from GYE?
The route from Manta to GYE runs 196 km and takes about 2 hours 43 minutes with clear roads. Traffic between Manta and GYE is allowed for on top, and the desk pays for the parking or the transfer either way.
02What can I reach from Manta without a change of aircraft?
GYE serves 16 airports nonstop across 10 countries with 8 operating carriers, and counting every gate a courier in Manta can drive to, the combined nonstop board is 16 airports. That is the practical range of a single assignment from here before anybody has to connect.
03Getting from Manta to the Emirates: nonstop or not?
From Mantthe best single change is New York (JFK), and JFK to DXB is flown by Emirates, about 3 departures a day. Counting a normal connection that is around 21h 13m gate to gate, so an assignment between Manta and the Emirates is planned as a connecting itinerary and the desk books the whole thing on one ticket.
04Do I have to live in the UAE to be on this list?
No residence visa, no Emirates address and no relocation. A courier on this list lives in Manta and flies out of GYE, which is exactly what the desk needs.
05Does it cost anything to apply?
There is no application fee, no placement fee and no deposit, in Manta or anywhere else. The AED 199 Academy is the single payment, and it is returned in full with your first assignment fee.
06How is my fee agreed?
The desk sends the routing, the timing and the fee for that specific assignment in writing. You accept or decline it. Nothing is deducted or charged without your written agreement.
Apply to fly out of GYE
One application covers Manta and every other desk we run. Tell us where you are and how fast you can reach Guayaquil José Joaquín de Olmedo.
Apply for this positionSee all openingsThe GYE atlas entry · The Ecuador courier desk · Ecuador country guide · All courier openings · Apply to the courier network