Lima Airport

The US$ 28.10 departure tax is not so bad relatively speaking. Departure taxes are fairly common at international airports. They’re often included in the ticket though and so most people do not realize they’re paying them. Any round trip to or from the U.S. will cost you about US$ 50.00 in various taxes and fees totally unrelated to the airfare itself: “Passenger Facility Charge” “US Departure Tax” “Sept 11th Security Fee” “US Immigration Fee” “US Customs Fee” “APHIS Fee” “US Arrival Tax”.

Lima Airport is themost important terminal of my country - nothing compared with European or Asian monster airports - but now with help of Fraport Lima Airport is turning to an airport of International level. Jetways and all infrastructure necessary to handle 7 million of passengers per year this year this airport will make several changes that will make it the most modern in Latin America.

I just flew out of LIM last week and was impressed by how much work is going on to improve this airport. Right now the airport is in major construction mode but I am optimistic that when all the work is completed Lima will be one of the most modern airports on the continent. What I do miss is the restaurant on the mezzanine level where you could sit and watch planes landing and taking off before going through immigration but now there are a number of eating and shopping options and apparently more are forthcoming. It will be very exciting to see how this airport evolves in the coming years.

While LIM does leave something to be desired over the past four years the improvements have been dramatic. I was surprised in just a year how much progress has been made on construction of the new concourse. I will however miss deplaning on the tarmac since passengers exit from the front and the rear of the plane which is much faster. The terminal also has been dramatically improved. I remember the good old bad days when there was only one place to eat or drink up on the mezzanine level and a Dunkin Donuts on the main level. Now there is a whole assortment of dining and shopping options up on the mezzanine. One temporary problem though that the powers-that-be at the airport should have thought of in Aug. 2004 there were no working elevators or escalators between the main floor and the mezzanine. Which meant that for a good part of our layover while waiting for our domestic flight to Trujillo my wife and I had to eat in shifts - one of us had to stay with the large checked luggage on the main floor while the other ate in one of the mezzanine restaurants. I imagine this would also make the mezzanine inaccessible to the handicapped. Also there is a surprising lack of seating on the main floor. The smell that someone complained about is diesel fuel which is used as a cleaning solvent in Peru. The hotel will be a welcome addition. Most of the time our flights to Lima arrive very late and require an overnight stay since there are no more domestic departures that day. We usually book a hotel room in advance in Miraflores (30-45 minutes away) but getting there late at night then getting back to the airport the next day can be a real headache. LIM does have a lot of shortcomings but it's not as if they're not expending a lot of effort to try to make it as nice a facility as in more developed parts of the world. I applaud their effort and look forward to seeing what improvements have been implemented the next year.

I was expecting the worse when passing thru this airport. In all fairness they are trying to modernize it and by the look of the sketches of the proposals it should turn out to be a quite respectable place. In the meantime no airbridges so all passengers deplane on the tarmac. It's thrilling to stand so close to those huge behemoths or even drive next to one but still after a long flight waiting on a bus for everyone to deplane is not my idea of fun. Immigrations is a mess - for some reasons all flights arrive in an hour and a half span. The hall is a temporary one (and it shows) and it gets so overcrowded that sometimes they leave you stranded in the bus waiting until there's enough space in the hall - just to queue. Once queuing the lines are so long that it took me an hour and a half just to go thru. Once you pass customs into the arrivals hall it's throngs of people it feels like the whole town is there - so much people it overflows the terminal hall. Of course you get hit with a wave of hustlers peddlers and just plain greeters - really stressful situation. A brawl broke out amongst taxi drivers just for my business. The cops had to come and my party just fled scared to pieces. Departures are no less friendly. Check in to flights take forever (especially US bound ones) lines are never-ending as well. Airside still in a temp facility feels like a big tent although they've made the shops feel particularly classy. Hope that when they finish the renovations the situation would improve considerably.

I am certain Lima is not the worst capital city international airport in the world - I have just not been to any that are worse. Your arrival is usually late at night and the plane will be parked far from the terminal. You will wait some time while security surrounds the plane a stairway is rolled up (no jetways here) and the standing room only bus arrives to bring you to an international arrival terminal that rivals the one in Port-au-Prince. As other have mentioned the only thing slower than immigration is waiting for your baggage. Customs is the typical Latin American game of russian roulette - you punch a button and a random red or green ligh decides your fate. At least it is usually fast. From there if you have someone meeting you well good luck finding them. Traveling in Peru involves the entire extended family greeting and sending off relatives and there will be literally thousands of people awaiting the arrival of your flight. Watch out for the pick- pockets and unscrupulous taxi drivers if you arrive alone. Departures are just as bad with manual luggage screening before you check-in and and the infamous $28.10 departure tax (try to pay in U.S. Dollars wuth exact change as the exchange rate is horrible). There is no air conditioning in the departure terminal and airlines struggle to set up some semblance of a secure area around the departure gates for secondary screening of all passengers. For these reasons Boeing 757s and 767s are the largest planes that can practically use LIM though LAN Chile uses A-340s for many of their flights (a logistical nightmare). According to the airport website don't expect any relief until at least 2009.

I use this airport 5-10 times a year. People who say this airport is the worst in the world haven't travelled around the 3rd World enough to opine. Sure it isn't Santiago or even Buenos Aires but it is clean safe and the international waiting lounge is pretty good (better than at MIA say). The VIP lounge is also recently re-modeled and features free high-speed internet and a free full- service bar in addition to the snacks soft drinks and beer set out for self-service. Lines for international check-in are a bit chaotic but if you can get into the business-class queue you're in fat city. Otherwise avoid the rush which occurs two to three hours before departure and dissipates fairly rapidly. Arriving at this airport is not the best experience. As mentioned in other reviews there are no elevated walkways to the terminal. Everybody including grandmas in wheelchairs and people lugging babies and strollers must go down the stairs and walk along the tarmac to the terminal. This really sucks because most international flights arrive in the middle of the night. The airlines will help if you ask. If the plane is forced to park really far away they will bus you to the terminal. Immigration officers are generally dour and the lines are long and slow but not as bad as in say India. Don't fret the delay because the baggage takes even longer to appear on the belt. I've had to wait as long as ONE HOUR for my bags to come out. I think they've only got 4-5 handlers for all the flights that come in at the same time. Domestic flights are better in this regard and porters are cheap and readily available. In the middle of the night when the jumbos come in porters are harder to come by. The airport was recently bought by a German consortium and is improving gradually. They need to re-think the egress which inevitably bottlenecks when the meet-and-greeters clash with touts and tourists. The most aggravating thing about this airport is the egregious $28.10 tax that is charged to all departing international passengers. The tax is bad enough (especially when you've got to pay for your whole family). But they've placed an extra tax upon what was for years a $25 tax to arrive at this odd number which requires receiving change in Peruvian coinage right before departure.

I fly through Lima about twice a year. The terminal truly is a dump -- one of the shabbiest international airports in the world. But I hope that renovations do not hurt the underlying efficiencies and service which make Lima one of my favorite airports. The only problems I have ever encounted in Lima were airline specific (American) and they were relatively minor. Check-in and connections have always been for me very efficient. When I arrive in Lima while I am walking from my gate I usually see my suitcase pass me on its way to baggage claim. Non-Spanish speakers may have a few problems at Lima but everyone that I have met there has been friendly and genuinely eager to be of service.

First of all any airport that is undergoing renovations in infrastructure is not going to look pretty and the terminal is not made out of wood - and it's not a dump as some people make it out to be. This airport has improved over the years and it will get better. There are a lot of plans for expansion and improvement and these things take time.

Lima Airport is one of the worst airports I've been to. It doesn't have jetbridges sometimes it smell bad and doesn't have amenities - just 1 restaurant and it is very small if you have to leave arrive or just make a connection into this airport just close your eye.