Jorge Chávez International Airport (
IATA: LIM,
ICAO: SPJC, SPIM) is the main
international airport serving the
Lima Metropolitan Area in
Peru. It is located in
Callao, 11 kilometers (6.8 mi) northwest of
Lima Center, the nation's capital city and 17 kilometers (11 mi) 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). It is among the busiest airports in South America.
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, which was inaugurated by President
Manuel Prado Ugarteche on 29 October of the same year. 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 by President
Fernando Belaúnde after 11 months of reconstruction. The airport did not receive any renovation or change in infrastructure for 35 years.
When it was in operation,
Compañía de Aviación Faucett had its corporate headquarters on the airport grounds.[2]Aerolíneas Peruanas was founded in 1956 as Peru's first flag carrier airline but would cease operations in 1971, being replaced by
Aeroperú. For a long time, Aeroperú was the largest airline in Peru, and also one of the largest in South America. It would be declared bankrupt in 1999 after the
Aeroperú Flight 603 accident, in which a
Boeing 757 leaving the airport to Miami crashed in the
pacific ocean, killing all 70 people onboard. Along with Aeroperú,
Faucett Perú and other large airlines would also cease operations.
LATAM Peru, then known as LAN Peru would become the largest airline in Peru, controlling most of the domestic market.
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.[3]
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 IIIinstrument landing system to help with landing in foggy conditions.[4] 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[5] and the
south.[6] Works was to 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.[7][8][9] Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, work was delayed but contined in 2021. the new terminal will be completed in December 2024.
Transport
This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(March 2020)
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.[10] 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.[11]
November 27, 1962:
Varig Flight 810, a
Boeing 707-441 registration PP-VJB flying from
Rio de Janeiro to Jorge Chávez International Airport, after initiating an overshoot procedure at the suggestion of the
control tower because it was too high, proceeded to start another approach when it crashed into La Cruz peak, 8 miles (7.0 nmi; 13 km) from the airport. Possibly there was a misinterpretation of navigation instruments. All 97 passengers and crew aboard died.[28][29]
May 8, 1964: an
Argentine Air ForceDouglas C-54 registration T-47 flying from
Buenos Aires to Jorge Chávez International Airport crashed into a sand dune during approach in poor visibility conditions, killing 46 of 49 people on board.[30]
August 6, 1986: an explosion of unknown origin occurred at a restroom in the domestic terminal.[31]
December 8, 1987: a
Peruvian NavyFokker 27-400M registration AE-560 flying from
Pucallpa to Jorge Chávez International Airport chartered by the
Alianza Limafootball team crashed into the
Pacific Ocean shortly before landing. A malfunctioning cockpit indicator made the crew believe that the
landing gear was not properly deployed and locked, so they requested the
control tower allow the plane to make a low pass for a visual check by ground personnel. After receiving the confirmation that the
landing gear was down, the aircraft circled the airport for another attempt to land, but plunged into the ocean instead, killing all on board except the pilot.[32]
March 10, 1989: an
Aero CondorBritten-Norman BN-2A Islander registration OB-1271 flying from
Nazca to Jorge Chavez International Airport crashed into a building during approach killing all on board, apparently due to fuel exhaustion.[33]
January 25, 1991: a car bomb placed by the
Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) killed two Peruvians and wounded ten people. The attack occurred in a context of condemnation, by left-wing armed groups and political movements, of
Operation Desert Storm; minutes after the attack, the US Embassy in Lima was attacked with an
RPG and
small arms fire by the MRTA.[34][35]
July 24, 1992: five American Airlines employees, charged with cleaning and baggage loading duties, were wounded by a bomb. This happened during the weekend in which Shining Path enforced a 48-hour nationwide "armed strike" that aimed at paralyzing, among other services, public transportation.[36][37]
January 22, 1993: three bullets hit the right side of the fuselage of American Airlines Flight 917 (inbound from Miami) while either landing or taxiing on the runway after landing. There were no casualties and damage to the plane was minimal. Despite Shining Path (SP) claiming responsibility for the attack, a subsequent investigation failed to identify the actual assailants. Airport authorities reportedly stated that the source of the shots was accidental, originating in a security guard working in the perimeter.[38] The incident, occurring in the context of a
decade-long leftist insurgency against the Peruvian state, happened in the midst of a surge of terrorist attacks and assassinations during that month which also targeted US interests and businesses.[39]
April 15, 1995: an Imperial Air
Tupolev Tu-134A-3 registration OB-1553 flying from
Cusco to Jorge Chavez International Airport suffered a tire failure after departure. The crew decided to continue the flight to Lima, but the left main
landing gear did not extend during landing. There were no fatalities, but the aircraft was
damaged beyond repair.[40]
On December 13, 2003 at 22:48 local time, Aero Continente Flight 341, a
Boeing 737-200 (
registered OB-1544-P) operating from
Caracas to
Lima, belly-landed at the runway because the pilots had forgotten about lowering the landing gear since they had to cope with a problem concerning the
flaps. The aircraft was
damaged beyond repair, but all 94 passengers and six crew on board survived the accident.[42][43]
On October 11, 2013, an
Airbus A320 (registration N492TA) from
TACA Airlines, made an emergency landing at 8:20 am Local Time. The pilot declared an emergency due to smoke in the cockpit. The aircraft was en route from Jorge Chávez International Airport to
El Salvador International Airport,
San Salvador,
El Salvador. There were 31 passengers plus crew on board. The aircraft landed safely.[44]
On November 18, 2022, a
LATAM PeruA320neo taking off as
Flight 2213 to
Juliaca collided with a fire engine that was crossing the runway, killing two firefighters and injuring a third. All 102 passengers and 6 crew aboard the plane escaped unharmed.[45][46]
^Germano da Silva, Carlos Ari César (2008). "Back course". O rastro da bruxa: história da aviação comercial brasileira no século XX através dos seus acidentes 1928-1996 (in Portuguese) (2 ed.). Porto Alegre: EDIPUCRS. pp. 217–222.
ISBN978-85-7430-760-2.
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^Organization/19813.pdf.
"Documents"(PDF). www.state.gov.
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