Key Takeaways
- Lima towers over everything. Jorge Chavez International Airport (LIM) serves around 63 regularly-served nonstop destinations — roughly ten times its nearest rival. Almost every domestic route in Peru is a spoke running to or from Lima.
- A brand-new Lima terminal. In June 2025 a USD 2 billion new terminal opened at Jorge Chavez, three times larger than the old one, with a second runway and capacity for up to 40 million passengers a year — a major upgrade for South America's Pacific gateway.
- Lima is the only US gateway. Lima is the sole Peruvian airport with nonstop flights to the United States — to Miami, New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Atlanta, Newark, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando. Every other Peruvian city connects via Lima or a foreign hub.
- Cusco is the tourism hub. Cusco (CUZ), the gateway to Machu Picchu, is the clear number two and one of the few airports with international flights (Santiago, Bogota, La Paz). Its long-delayed replacement at Chinchero is now slated to open around 2027.
- Many cities fly only to Lima. Twenty Peruvian airports have scheduled passenger service, but most regional fields — from the Amazon at Iquitos to the Andes at Juliaca — are served by a single route: the daily hop to and from Lima.
Peru is one of South America’s great travel destinations — Machu Picchu, the Amazon, the Andes, the Pacific coast and the colonial cities — yet its aviation map is strikingly lopsided. A single airport, Lima’s Jorge Chávez International, dominates the entire country, while a long tail of regional airports mostly exists to feed it. In all, twenty airports in Peru currently run scheduled passenger service.
Below we map and rank those airports by the number of nonstop destinations each one serves, using live route data from AirportRoutes. Because the figures come from observed flight data — a large sample rather than a complete published timetable — we treat them as a strong guide to relative connectivity rather than exact official totals.
Which Peruvian airports have direct flights to the US?
When it comes to the United States, the answer is simple: only Lima. Jorge Chávez is the sole Peruvian airport with scheduled nonstop service across the equator to North America, with flights to Miami, New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Atlanta, Newark, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando. These are flown by a mix of US carriers — American, United, Delta, JetBlue and Spirit — alongside LATAM.
No other Peruvian city has a nonstop US link. Travelers from Cusco, Arequipa, Trujillo or anywhere else must first connect through Lima, or route via a foreign hub such as Bogotá, Panama City, Santiago or one of the big US gateways. For long-haul flying generally, Lima is also Peru’s only airport with intercontinental routes to Europe (Madrid, Amsterdam, Paris) and across the Pacific.
Ranked
Major Airports in Peru by Nonstop Destinations
Ranked by regularly-served nonstop destinations, busiest first.
| Airport | IATA | Nonstop | City / Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Lima | LIM | 63 | Lima / Callao (national hub) |
| 2. Cusco | CUZ | 6 | Cusco (Machu Picchu gateway) |
| 3. Chiclayo | CIX | 3 | Chiclayo (north coast) |
| 4. Iquitos | IQT | 3 | Iquitos (northern Amazon) |
| 5. Tarapoto | TPP | 2 | Tarapoto (San Martín jungle) |
| 6. Pucallpa | PCL | 2 | Pucallpa (Amazon) |
| 7. Trujillo | TRU | 2 | Trujillo (north coast) |
| 8. Puerto Maldonado | PEM | 2 | Madre de Dios (Tambopata) |
| 9. Arequipa | AQP | 2 | Arequipa (southern Andes) |
| 10. Ayacucho | AYP | 1 | Ayacucho (central Andes) |
| 11. Huánuco | HUU | 1 | Huánuco (central Andes) |
| 12. Piura | PIU | 1 | Piura (far north) |
| 13. Tumbes | TBP | 1 | Tumbes (Ecuador border) |
| 14. Talara | TYL | 1 | Talara (Piura coast) |
| 15. Chachapoyas | CHH | 1 | Chachapoyas (Amazonas) |
| 16. Tacna | TCQ | 1 | Tacna (Chile border) |
| 17. Jauja | JAU | 1 | Jauja / Huancayo (Junín) |
| 18. Juliaca | JUL | 1 | Juliaca (Lake Titicaca) |
A closer look at Peru’s airports
✈️ Lima (LIM)
Jorge Chávez International Airport, in the port city of Callao about 10 km from central Lima, is the beating heart of Peruvian aviation — and one of the busiest airports in South America. In June 2025 it opened a brand-new, roughly USD 2 billion terminal three times the size of the old one, paired with a second runway, lifting capacity toward 40 million passengers a year. It is operated by Lima Airport Partners, a subsidiary of Germany’s Fraport, under a concession running to 2041.
Serving Lima, LIM reaches around 63 regularly-served nonstop destinations — the only Peruvian airport with long-haul and US reach. It is the home base of LATAM Perú, Sky Airline, JetSMART and Star Perú, and the single point through which almost all of Peru’s domestic network connects. Top destinations include Cusco, Arequipa, Santiago, Chiclayo and Piura.
Main airlines: LATAM Perú, Sky Airline, JetSMART, Star Perú and Avianca, plus US carriers American, United, Delta, JetBlue and Spirit. See the full route map for LIM on AirportRoutes →
🏞️ Cusco (CUZ)
Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport sits right inside the city of Cusco, the ancient Inca capital and the launch point for Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley. At around 3,300 m altitude and ringed by mountains, it handles mostly morning flights before afternoon winds pick up, and the Lima–Cusco route is the busiest domestic corridor in the country.
Serving Cusco, CUZ reaches about 6 regularly-served nonstop destinations and is one of the few Peruvian airports with international flights — to Santiago, Bogotá and La Paz — alongside Lima, Arequipa and Puerto Maldonado. Its long-planned replacement, a new international airport at nearby Chinchero, remains under construction and is now expected to open around 2027.
Main airlines: LATAM Perú, Sky Airline, Avianca and JetSMART. See the full route map for CUZ on AirportRoutes →
🌋 Arequipa (AQP)
Rodríguez Ballón International Airport serves Arequipa, Peru’s second-largest city — the elegant volcanic-stone “White City” and the gateway to the Colca Canyon. Despite the city’s size, its scheduled network is surprisingly thin.
Serving Arequipa, AQP has just 2 regularly-served nonstop destinations in the data — Lima and Cusco — a reminder of how completely Peruvian traffic funnels through the capital. Frequencies to Lima are heavy, but onward connections almost always require a change there.
Main airlines: LATAM Perú, Sky Airline and JetSMART. See the full route map for AQP on AirportRoutes →
🌳 Iquitos (IQT)
Coronel FAP Francisco Secada Vignetta International Airport serves Iquitos, the largest city on Earth that cannot be reached by road — deep in the northern Amazon, accessible only by air or river. That isolation makes the airport a genuine lifeline rather than a convenience.
Serving Iquitos, IQT reaches about 3 regularly-served nonstop destinations — Lima, Tarapoto and Pucallpa — and is the gateway to the Pacaya-Samiria reserve and Amazon river cruises. Almost all traffic is domestic.
Main airlines: Star Perú, LATAM Perú and Sky Airline. See the full route map for IQT on AirportRoutes →
🏰 Trujillo (TRU)
Carlos Martínez de Pinillos International Airport serves Trujillo, capital of La Libertad and one of Peru’s largest cities, on the north coast near the surf town of Huanchaco and the vast adobe ruins of Chan Chan.
Serving Trujillo, TRU reaches about 2 regularly-served nonstop destinations. Alongside the busy link to Lima it has an international route south to Santiago, Chile, flown by the low-cost carriers — a rare example of a Peruvian regional airport reaching abroad without going through the capital.
Main airlines: LATAM Perú, Sky Airline and JetSMART. See the full route map for TRU on AirportRoutes →
🏺 Chiclayo (CIX)
José A. Quiñones González International Airport serves Chiclayo in Lambayeque, the heart of Peru’s northern desert and the ancient Moche and Sicán cultures — home to the famous tomb of the Lord of Sipán.
Serving Chiclayo, CIX reaches about 3 regularly-served nonstop destinations. Besides Lima and Tarapoto it offers an international link to Panama City on Copa Airlines, giving northern Peru a connection point to the Americas that bypasses Lima entirely.
Main airlines: Star Perú, LATAM Perú, JetSMART and Copa Airlines. See the full route map for CIX on AirportRoutes →
🌿 Tarapoto (TPP)
Guillermo del Castillo Paredes Airport serves Tarapoto, the “City of Palms” in the San Martín region — a fast-growing high-jungle destination on the edge of the Amazon, popular for waterfalls, lagoons and eco-lodges.
Serving Tarapoto, TPP reaches around 2–3 regularly-served nonstop destinations, chiefly Lima with jungle links to Iquitos and Chiclayo. It has become one of the busier secondary airports as domestic tourism to the region grows.
Main airlines: Star Perú, JetSMART, LATAM Perú and Sky Airline. See the full route map for TPP on AirportRoutes →
☀️ Piura (PIU)
Guillermo Concha Iberico International Airport serves Piura in Peru’s far north, the regional capital and the inland gateway to the country’s most popular beach scene — Máncora and the sun-soaked Pacific coast near the Ecuadorian border.
Serving Piura, PIU has 1 regularly-served nonstop destination in the data: the frequent shuttle to and from Lima. Beach traffic and a steady business market keep that single corridor busy year-round.
Main airlines: LATAM Perú, JetSMART and Sky Airline. See the full route map for PIU on AirportRoutes →
🛶 Juliaca (JUL)
Inca Manco Cápac International Airport serves Juliaca on the Altiplano, the air gateway to Puno and Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world. At over 3,800 m it is one of the highest commercial airports anywhere.
Serving Juliaca, JUL has 1 regularly-served nonstop destination — Lima — carrying tourists bound for Titicaca’s reed islands and travelers crossing toward Bolivia. Despite the “international” in its name, scheduled service is domestic.
Main airlines: LATAM Perú and Sky Airline. See the full route map for JUL on AirportRoutes →
🐆 Puerto Maldonado (PEM)
Padre Aldamiz International Airport serves Puerto Maldonado in Madre de Dios, the southern Amazon gateway to the Tambopata and Manu rainforest reserves — some of the most biodiverse places on the planet.
Serving Puerto Maldonado, PEM reaches 2 regularly-served nonstop destinations — Lima and Cusco — making it a natural add-on to a Machu Picchu trip for travelers heading into the jungle.
Main airlines: LATAM Perú and Sky Airline. See the full route map for PEM on AirportRoutes →
Other airports with scheduled service
Beyond the cities above, a string of smaller Peruvian airports run scheduled flights — almost all of them a single daily link to Lima. Pucallpa (PCL) is an Amazon river port in Ucayali; Ayacucho (AYP) and Huánuco (HUU) sit in the central Andes; Chachapoyas (CHH) opens up the cloud-forest fortress of Kuélap; and Jauja (JAU) serves the Mantaro Valley city of Huancayo.
In the far north, Tumbes (TBP) and Talara (TYL) serve the Pacific beaches near the Ecuadorian border, while Tacna (TCQ) anchors the deep south on the Chilean frontier. Two more fields — Cajamarca (CJA) in the northern highlands and Jaén (JAE) in the coffee country of the high jungle — round out the network with minimal scheduled service. In every case, the route map begins and ends in Lima.
Airport rankings, nonstop-destination counts, served cities, airline lists and US/intercontinental connections are drawn from live AirportRoutes route data (observed AeroAPI flight data — a sample, not a complete published schedule; we use the regularly-served figure, which filters one-off observations). Airport history, the new Lima terminal and the Chinchero project are cross-checked against the cited references. The map is a Mappr original.
Primary Data Source:
- AirportRoutes — Major airports & routes, Peru – Live route data: per-airport nonstop destinations, served cities, airlines and US/intercontinental connections.
Reference:
- Fraport / Lima Airport Partners — new Jorge Chávez terminal – Opening of the new Lima terminal in June 2025 (size, capacity and concession details).
- Wikipedia — Jorge Chávez International Airport & Chinchero International Airport – Airport history, terminals, the Chinchero replacement project and notable facts referenced in the per-airport sections.
- Locator maps — Google Maps / Google Static Maps – Per-airport location maps with airplane markers, generated via Google Static Maps.
Image Sources:
- Map by Mappr – Map of major airports in Peru — a Mappr original built from AirportRoutes data and Natural Earth boundaries.
