High on a windswept plateau above Peru’s Sacred Valley, bulldozers and concrete mixers are reshaping the landscape into what will become Chinchero International Airport, a vast new gateway for travelers bound for Cusco and Machu Picchu. Promoted by the Peruvian government as a long-awaited engine of development for the southern Andes, the airport promises faster access for millions of tourists and new economic opportunities for local communities. Yet from archaeologists to environmentalists and many residents in the valley below, the megaproject has also become a symbol of the risks that come when global tourism ambitions collide with fragile cultural and natural heritage.
A New Gateway Rising Above the Sacred Valley
The Chinchero International Airport site lies at roughly 3,720 meters above sea level in the district of Chinchero, northwest of Cusco and overlooking the Sacred Valley. Designed to replace Cusco’s saturated Alejandro Velasco Astete Airport, the new facility is planned with a 4,000-meter runway able to receive larger jets and a modern terminal projected to handle more than seven million passengers per year, with capacity to grow to as many as twelve million as demand increases. Government officials describe it as the country’s second most important airport after Lima, a hub that will knit Cusco more directly into regional and international air networks.
Construction, led through a government-to-government agreement with South Korea and carried out by a consortium of Peruvian and Korean firms, has been advancing in stages since the ceremonial groundbreaking in late 2021. By mid-2025, Peru’s Ministry of Transport and Communications reported overall progress of just over thirty percent, including significant advances on the passenger terminal and perimeter works. An addendum signed in late 2024 reshaped the contracts, leaving runway and control tower construction to a separate tender expected to launch in 2025. Official timelines now point to completion around late 2026, though that schedule will hinge on the next wave of bidding and construction unfolding without major setbacks.
For travelers, the implications are profound. Today, most visitors to Machu Picchu must connect through Lima and then fly on narrow-body aircraft to Cusco’s tightly constrained in-town airport, hemmed in by hills and neighborhoods. The new Chinchero facility, by contrast, is intended to receive direct international flights from regional hubs across South America and possibly from gateways such as Miami, reducing travel times and easing congestion in Cusco’s historic center. It is precisely this vision of mass direct access to the Sacred Valley, however, that sits at the heart of the project’s controversy.
Promises of Economic Growth and Connectivity
In Lima and Cusco, political leaders have framed the airport as a cornerstone of Peru’s tourism-led growth strategy. President Dina Boluarte has pledged that Chinchero will be built with high standards of efficiency and transparency and has repeatedly highlighted its potential to boost both domestic and international tourism. Officials argue that a larger, more capable airport is essential if Peru is to fully capitalize on global interest in Machu Picchu, the Sacred Valley, and lesser-known Andean destinations that remain off the radar for many international travelers.
The projected economic impact stretches well beyond tourism receipts. During construction, the project is expected to generate thousands of direct jobs and many more indirect roles in supplying materials, transport, and services. Over the longer term, authorities forecast benefits for trade and logistics, with improved air freight options for high-value Andean exports such as specialty coffee, cacao, fresh produce, and textiles. Regional planners see the airport as an anchor for a broader corridor of investment in roads, hospitality, and public works that could significantly reshape the economic geography of southern Peru.
Local officials in Chinchero have echoed this optimism, speaking of rising land values, new businesses, and long-delayed infrastructure upgrades that are finally moving forward. Municipal leaders point to coordinated planning efforts involving national agencies to guide urban expansion, water and sanitation systems, and transportation links so that the district can absorb the anticipated influx of visitors and new residents. In their view, the airport is not just a transit hub but a catalyst for lifting living standards in a region historically marked by poverty and underinvestment.
Tourism to Machu Picchu: Boost or Breaking Point?
For the global traveler intent on seeing Machu Picchu, Chinchero International Airport appears at first glance a game changer. Direct flights into the Sacred Valley region could shave hours off arrival times, reduce the stress of tight connections in Lima, and potentially smooth seasonal peaks by dispersing visitor flows across more carriers and routes. For tour operators, airlines, and hotels, the prospect of millions of additional seats into Cusco each year represents an enticing opportunity to expand offerings, from luxury rail journeys to trekking itineraries that link multiple Inca sites.
Yet the idea of funneling a much larger volume of travelers more quickly toward Machu Picchu has raised alarms among heritage advocates, who warn that the iconic citadel and its surrounding ecosystems are already straining under pre-pandemic visitation levels. Questions swirl around how many tourists the broader region, not just the site itself, can sustainably accommodate, especially once a high-capacity airport eliminates some of the existing bottlenecks that naturally limit daily arrivals.
In recent years, Peruvian authorities and UNESCO have discussed stricter management plans for Machu Picchu, including caps on visitor numbers and new zoning measures to protect trails and adjoining archaeological sites. Observers worry that an aggressive push for growth, fueled by newfound connectivity from Chinchero, could undermine these fragile safeguards. Without robust coordination between aviation planners, transport ministries, conservation authorities, and local governments, they argue, the benefits of increased tourism could be overshadowed by crowding, degradation, and diminished visitor experience at one of the world’s most celebrated heritage destinations.
Heritage and Landscape at Risk
Long before the first earthmovers arrived on the plateau, archaeologists and historians urged the Peruvian government to reconsider its choice of site, warning that a major airport built in the heart of an Inca cultural landscape risked doing irreversible damage. Chinchero itself is an ancient settlement with surviving terraces, colonial churches, and a living tradition of weaving and agriculture that many see as central to the Sacred Valley’s identity. From their perspective, carving runways and terminals into such a setting threatens to erase the very qualities that draw visitors here in the first place.
Critics also highlight the broader archaeological footprint of the project. Flight paths into and out of Chinchero are expected to pass near or above sites such as Ollantaytambo, a sprawling archeological park that once guarded the approaches to Machu Picchu. Concerns range from vibration and noise that might compromise fragile stone structures to visual and acoustic intrusion that could alter the character of once-tranquil ruins. For researchers and conservationists, the airport represents another in a series of development pressures on Peru’s patrimony, alongside mining, road building, and urban encroachment.
Cultural heritage defenders have organized petitions, public campaigns, and legal challenges seeking to suspend or relocate the project, arguing that Peru has an obligation under national law and international conventions to preserve its unique Inca landscapes. While those efforts have so far failed to halt construction, they have amplified global scrutiny, prompting many travelers and tour companies to weigh the ethics of supporting a project that some experts describe as fundamentally incompatible with long-term heritage conservation.
Environmental Concerns in a Fragile High-Andean Ecosystem
Beyond cultural impacts, environmental scientists have sounded the alarm over building a major aviation facility in a high-altitude watershed that feeds much of the Cusco region. The Chinchero plateau is laced with wetlands, springs, and lagoons, including bodies of water that contribute significantly to Cusco’s drinking supply. Independent hydrological evaluations have questioned the adequacy of environmental impact assessments carried out for the airport, warning that land clearance, runway construction, and eventual fuel handling and de-icing operations could contaminate or disrupt these water systems.
The region’s climate and topography pose additional challenges. Strong and unpredictable winds, fog, and the proximity of rugged Andean peaks all complicate flight operations, raising questions among some aviation experts about long-term safety and reliability, particularly once traffic scales up. Bird populations in the valley and on nearby lakes add another layer of risk, both for the natural environment and for aircraft that could be exposed to a higher incidence of bird strikes.
On the ground, residents worry that rapid urbanization around the airport zone will accelerate soil erosion, strain waste management systems, and transform agricultural land into an unplanned sprawl of hotels, warehouses, and roadside commerce. Experiences from other rapidly growing gateways around the world suggest that without firm zoning controls and enforcement, new airports often act as magnets for haphazard development. In the Sacred Valley, such a scenario could dramatically alter viewsheds and habitats that have remained largely rural for centuries.
Communities Caught Between Opportunity and Unease
Within Chinchero and neighboring communities, opinions about the airport are far from uniform. Many residents, particularly younger people and those already working in tourism, see the project as a once-in-a-generation chance to access jobs, training, and income that were previously concentrated in Cusco or Lima. Local weavers, hoteliers, and guides imagine a future in which a steady flow of visitors supports year-round business, enables investment in better schools and clinics, and reduces the need for migration to distant cities.
Others, however, express deep anxiety about being overwhelmed by a wave of outsiders and speculative capital. Land prices in parts of Chinchero and the valley have already surged in anticipation of the airport’s opening, placing pressure on small farmers and families who fear being pushed out by developers. Community leaders have complained that urban planning, water treatment, and basic services are not keeping pace with the project’s scale, leaving them vulnerable to pollution, congestion, and social tensions once operations begin.
These divisions often track broader lines of power and access to information. While national officials speak the language of competitiveness and growth, villagers emphasize questions of consent, compensation, and cultural continuity. Some communities have negotiated social development funds or infrastructure pledges tied to the project, but critics argue that such benefits are unevenly distributed and lack long-term guarantees. For travelers, understanding these local dynamics will be increasingly important when deciding how and where to spend time and money in the Sacred Valley.
Balancing Growth With Responsible Travel
As Chinchero International Airport rises from the Andean soil, it crystallizes a dilemma confronting many of the world’s great heritage destinations: how to welcome more visitors without eroding the cultural and environmental foundations that make these places special. For Peru, the stakes are especially high. Tourism is a vital source of foreign exchange and employment, yet the country’s most famous icons, from Machu Picchu to the Nazca Lines, are vulnerable to overuse and policy missteps. Recent debates over shrinking protected areas, expanding mining frontiers, and reconfiguring airports underscore how quickly the balance between conservation and development can shift.
Much will depend on the regulatory and planning choices that accompany Chinchero’s final construction phase and eventual opening. Strict caps on daily visitors to Machu Picchu, robust monitoring of noise and emissions, and clear zoning around archaeological and ecological zones could help mitigate harm. Transparent consultation with local communities, backed by binding commitments on water, waste, and heritage protection, will be crucial to building trust. For their part, airlines and tour operators can steer demand toward longer, more immersive stays and lesser-known sites, rather than funneling ever-larger crowds through a single overburdened circuit.
Travelers themselves also have agency. Choosing operators that prioritize environmental and cultural responsibility, respecting local norms, and supporting community-based tourism projects can channel some of the airport’s economic benefits directly to those who bear the greatest risks. In the coming years, as aircraft begin to descend toward Chinchero’s high plateau, the story of Peru’s Sacred Valley will hinge not only on engineering and investment, but on whether all those who love this landscape can collaborate to ensure that economic growth does not come at the cost of the very heritage that makes it a wonder of the world.