Jorge Chávez International Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional Jorge Chávez; ) is Peru's main international and domestic airport. It is located in Callao, northwest of Lima Center, the nation's capital city and from the district of Miraflores. During 2017, the airport served 22,025,704 passengers. Historically, the airport was the hub for Compañía de Aviación Faucett and Aeroperú. Now it serves as a hub for many aviation companies. The airport was named after Peruvian aviator Jorge Chávez (1887–1910).
History
Lima's first airport was the Limatambo Airport in San Isidro. It ceased operations in 1960 due to a lack of space and capacity, and was replaced by the Lima-Callao International Airport. In June 1965, the Lima-Callao airport was renamed the "Aeropuerto Internacional Jorge Chávez" after the famous Peruvian aviator, Jorge Chávez Dartnell. In December 1965, the terminal building was officially opened.
When it was in operation, Compañía de Aviación Faucett had its corporate headquarters on the airport grounds.
In 2001, in order to improve and expand its infrastructure, the government of Peru placed the airport under the management of Lima Airport Partners (LAP). LAP is now composed of Fraport and International Finance Corporation. The air traffic control is managed by the Peruvian Corporation of Airports and Commercial Aviation (CORPAC). The Peruvian government engaged Jaime Malagón, Jerome Jakubik, Paul Slocomb, and Víctor M. Marroquín of Baker and McKenzie international law firm, to oversee the changes.
In February 2005, the first phase of a new renovation and expansion project was completed. This included the Peru Plaza Shopping Center and a new concourse. In June 2007, a four-star hotel, Ramada Costa del Sol, opened at the airport.
In January 2009, the second phase of the terminal expansion was commenced. The terminal has 28 gates, 19 with boarding bridges. In August 2009, the LAP announced that in 2010, the airport would have a new category III instrument landing system to help with landing in foggy conditions. Arquitectonica, a Miami-based architectural office, and Lima Airport Partners planned a second terminal and expansion of the main terminal.
On October 24, 2018, the Peruvian state delivered all the land for the expansion and modernization of the Jorge Chavez airport to the airport operator "Lima Airport Partners". The estimated investment of US$1,200 million includes the construction of a new runway, a control tower and a passenger terminal in addition to the existing one. On the other hand, the state will build a new bridge and highway on the current Santa Rosa Avenue that will connect directly with the "Costa Verde" highway, benefiting a lot of tourists and entrepreneurs who are only going to visit Miraflores and the south. Works will be completed in 4 years, by the beginning of the year 2023, and will allow the transit of 40 million passengers per year by 2030.
Transport
Transportation between the airport and the city is provided by taxis, tour buses and vans. Airport Express Lima is the official bus of Jorge Chávez Airport. Line 2 and Line 4 of the Lima Metro are currently under construction. Some companies of taxis and buses offer services to visit the city, some of them transit through the avenues: Faucett, Linea Amarilla, Tomás Valle, De La Marina, Colonial and Costa Verde. Some go north, east, to the historic center and the Financial Center; and others towards Miraflores and the south area like Pachacamac and Surco.
Facilities
The airport hosts the Wyndham Costa del Sol hotel which is located adjacent to the control tower and the arrivals exit. The hotel is built with noise canceling panels. The Peru Plaza Shopping Center is located near the passenger terminal in the Grand Concourse area. The food court is located near the entrance of the passenger terminal on the second floor and is always open. There is an ice cream vendor selling some special Peruvian flavours such as Chirimoya and Lucuma.
The airport has numerous premium lounges in the departures terminal, such as VIP Peru. For passengers in first class, there is an exclusive salon near the gates, the VIP Club.
On 12 May 2009, the airport opened Lima Cargo City, a hub for cargo airlines.