Travelers across Peru are facing another wave of uncertainty as a fresh round of LATAM Airlines cancellations and delays ripples through the country’s air network. According to local aviation and travel reports in early February 2026, at least 22 LATAM flights were canceled and many more delayed, stranding passengers in key cities including Lima, Arequipa, Cajamarca, Cusco, Trujillo, and other regional hubs. The disruption has hit at the height of the Southern Hemisphere summer travel season, complicating domestic business trips, family visits, and long-planned holidays to Peru’s flagship destinations such as Machu Picchu and the Colca Canyon.
What Happened Across Peru’s Skies
The most recent disruption unfolded over several days as LATAM’s Peru operations trimmed and rescheduled services on multiple domestic routes. While detailed flight-by-flight data is not made public in real time, Peruvian media and industry outlets report that at least 22 LATAM services were canceled, with additional flights delayed, affecting connections through Lima’s Jorge Chávez International Airport and onward to major cities such as Cusco, Arequipa, Trujillo, and Cajamarca.
The cancellations did not occur in isolation. They come on the heels of a broader pattern of operational turbulence in Peruvian air travel, including a recent episode in January 2026 in which LATAM and rival Sky Airline together registered nearly 30 cancellations and extensive delays on the busy Lima–Cusco corridor and other routes. For travelers on the ground, the distinction between carriers and the specific causes of each event matters less than the lived reality of long queues at check in, crowded departure halls, and mounting uncertainty over when they will actually take off.
At Lima, where most of LATAM’s Peruvian network is funneled into a hub-and-spoke system, the knock-on effects have been especially acute. Once a handful of departures are scrubbed or significantly delayed, aircraft and crew fall out of position, turning what might begin as a technical or operational issue into a rolling disruption that touches cities far from the original problem. Passengers booked on early morning departures from provincial airports have found out only at the terminal that their aircraft never arrived from Lima the night before.
What makes this episode particularly disruptive is its breadth. Reports point to impacts not only on flagship tourist routes such as Lima–Cusco and Lima–Arequipa, but also on secondary destinations like Cajamarca and Trujillo, where alternatives are fewer and overland journeys can take many long hours along winding Andean or coastal highways.
Why Flights Are Being Canceled and Delayed
LATAM has not publicly attributed this specific cluster of 22 cancellations to a single dramatic cause such as a strike or a safety incident. Instead, the picture that emerges is of a network operating under sustained strain. Across its South American markets, LATAM has acknowledged that engine maintenance delays for certain aircraft types, persistent supply chain challenges, and tight fleet utilization are forcing the airline to plan conservatively and adjust schedules when even minor issues arise.
In Peru specifically, the airline is also digesting a wave of structural changes tied to Jorge Chávez International Airport. New cost pressures, particularly the phased introduction of a controversial transfer version of the TUUA airport usage fee, have led LATAM to announce the suspension of several international routes from Lima in 2026, including links to Havana and Tucumán, and the cancellation of future services to destinations such as Orlando, Curaçao, and certain Brazilian and Central American cities. While these route cuts are framed as long term commercial decisions rather than emergency measures, they underscore how finely balanced LATAM’s Peru network has become.
Operationally, even a small number of grounded aircraft or crew shortages can have outsized effects in a country where air travel is the primary practical way to traverse the Andes and large stretches of roadless jungle. Seasonal thunderstorms, low visibility at high-altitude airports such as Cusco or Arequipa, and congestion at Lima’s overburdened terminals all add layers of fragility. On a busy summer weekend, a bout of bad weather in Cusco coupled with a technical inspection in Lima can cascade into multiple canceled rotations and dozens of delayed sectors.
The result is a pattern familiar to frequent flyers in the region: by mid-morning, departure boards begin to show a scatter of delayed flights; by afternoon, the airline trims the schedule to recover some reliability the following day, converting delays into formal cancellations. That is effectively what many travelers in early February 2026 have encountered, as LATAM works to stabilize its operations at the cost of passengers’ immediate plans.
Cities and Travelers Most Affected
Lima sits at the center of this disruption. Nearly every domestic LATAM itinerary in Peru relies on a connection through the capital, meaning that cancellations on Lima–Cusco services, for example, can strand not only tourists en route to Machu Picchu but also Peruvians connecting onward to Trujillo on the north coast or to Iquitos in the Amazon basin. When aircraft that were supposed to position overnight into regional cities fail to depart, morning flights out of places like Cajamarca and Arequipa are either severely delayed or pulled from the schedule entirely.
Cusco, gateway to the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu, is simultaneously one of the most strategically important and operationally challenging points in LATAM’s domestic network. Its high altitude and surrounding mountains limit the hours of operation and impose strict weather minima. This means that any late-arriving aircraft from Lima may miss its operational window, forcing same day returns to be canceled outright. In the current wave of disruptions, travelers bound for Cusco have reported long waits at Lima with limited clarity on whether alternative same day services will be available.
Arequipa, Peru’s second city and the staging point for excursions into the Colca Canyon, has also been caught in the crossfire. Because its schedule is less dense than the Lima–Cusco shuttle, a canceled Arequipa sector often means a 24 hour wait for the next available departure, particularly in peak periods. For business travelers heading to mining and industrial projects in the south, this can mean missed site visits and costly reshuffling of hotel and ground transportation arrangements.
In northern Peru, cities such as Trujillo and Cajamarca suffer from a different kind of vulnerability. Overland routes from Lima are lengthy and, in the rainy season, can be subject to landslides and closures. When LATAM cancels an evening Lima–Cajamarca service, passengers may have no viable same day alternatives at all. Many stranded travelers in these destinations have resorted to rebooking with other carriers where possible, or to rearranging entire itineraries to avoid backtracking through Lima.
How LATAM Is Responding
LATAM’s official customer guidance in Peru mirrors its global policies: when a flight is canceled by the airline, passengers are generally entitled to a choice between rebooking on a comparable service at no additional cost or requesting a refund for the unused portion of their ticket. In many cases, especially during this recent disruption, LATAM has proactively offered alternative itineraries, sometimes shifting passengers to next day departures or routing them through different connection points within its network.
On paper, those options sound straightforward. At the airport, however, the picture has often been more complicated. During peak disruption windows, LATAM’s check in counters and customer service desks in Lima and Cusco have been inundated, with queues stretching through the terminal and waiting times of an hour or more. Some travelers with tickets issued by partner airlines or booked through frequent flyer programs have reported additional friction, as partner systems can be slow to register cancellations and authorize rebookings, leaving passengers caught between two sets of agents with limited authority to make changes.
Despite these bottlenecks, ground staff have worked extended hours to process vouchers for meals and hotels where required, particularly in cases where same day onward travel is not possible. Families traveling with small children and elderly passengers have been prioritized for re-accommodation, although not all travelers in these categories have felt adequately looked after. The perception gap between what the airline believes it is providing and what passengers feel they are receiving remains a challenge for LATAM’s brand in the Peruvian market.
Behind the scenes, LATAM’s operations control center has been trimming nonessential frequencies and swapping aircraft types where possible to maximize seat capacity on core domestic routes such as Lima–Cusco. That means some travelers may see last minute equipment changes or adjustments to seat assignments, even when their flights operate more or less on time. For the airline, these tactical moves are part of a broader effort to navigate a period of structural and operational stress with minimal long term damage to its network.
Rights and Remedies for Affected Passengers
Passenger rights around cancellations and delays in Peru are framed by a mix of national regulations and airline-specific commitments. While Peru does not have an exact equivalent of the European Union’s EC261 compensation regime, consumer protection rules do require airlines to offer basic care when disruptions are within the carrier’s control, including food, communication assistance, and when necessary, overnight accommodation.
In practice, travelers affected by LATAM’s recent cancellations have several avenues for redress. The first is to work directly with LATAM to obtain rebooking or a refund. This is often the quickest route to salvaging an itinerary, especially for those already in transit. However, passengers should keep detailed records of disrupted flights, boarding passes, receipts for meals, hotels, and alternative transport, as these documents can support later claims for reimbursement of out of pocket expenses.
Those who purchased travel insurance, whether as a standalone policy or through a credit card benefit, may be eligible for additional compensation. Many policies cover trip interruption and delay, including lost prepaid accommodation or tours that became unusable when a flight failed to operate. Insurers will typically require proof that the airline’s disruption caused the loss, reinforcing the importance of obtaining written confirmation of cancellations or significant delays from LATAM or the airport.
Special considerations apply for journeys that cross jurisdictions. For example, if a ticket involves a long haul sector to or from Europe, segments operated by LATAM may fall under European passenger rights rules for that portion of the trip. Likewise, codeshare itineraries ticketed by foreign carriers may open the door to claims through those airlines’ customer relations systems, even if LATAM was the operating carrier on the disrupted leg.
Impact on Tourism and Local Economies
The timing of these disruptions could hardly be worse for Peru’s tourism industry. January through March is a peak period for international visitors drawn to Machu Picchu, the Sacred Valley, Lake Titicaca, and coastal destinations. Many of these travelers plan intricate multi stop itineraries months in advance, often bundling nonrefundable hotels, guided treks, and rail tickets that depend on reliable flight schedules. When a key domestic flight vanishes from the board in Lima or Cusco, the financial and logistical shock waves travel far beyond a single airport.
Tour operators have reported a surge in last minute rearrangements, from shifting tour start dates to securing scarce seats on alternative flights operated by smaller Peruvian carriers. Some have had to absorb additional costs to ensure guests reach critical legs of their journey, while others have passed surcharges on to customers to cover emergency transport such as private transfers or chartered buses over long distances. In regions where tourism represents a significant share of local income, such as Cusco and the Colca Valley, even a few days of severe air disruption can translate into lost revenue for hotels, restaurants, guides, and small vendors.
Domestic business travel has also been disrupted, particularly in sectors tied to mining, agriculture, and infrastructure projects that rely on predictable air links between Lima and regional capitals. Canceled flights to and from cities like Arequipa and Cajamarca can delay site inspections, contract negotiations, or technical work, with knock on effects on project timelines and costs. For small businesses operating on thin margins, the added uncertainty of air travel can complicate decisions about expansion and investment.
At the same time, repeated headlines about mass cancellations and stranded tourists risk undermining confidence in Peru as a seamless travel destination. While every country’s aviation system experiences occasional turbulence, the perception of chronic unreliability can nudge some travelers to postpone or redirect their trips, particularly those with tight schedules or limited appetite for logistical surprises. That is a risk Peru’s tourism sector, still consolidating its rebound after the pandemic and periods of social unrest, can ill afford.
Practical Advice for Travelers Heading to Peru Now
For travelers with imminent plans to visit Peru, the latest disruptions are a reminder to build resilience into every itinerary. Whenever possible, it is wise to schedule at least one buffer night in Lima before time sensitive activities such as treks to Machu Picchu, cruises on Lake Titicaca, or international onward flights. Back to back connections that rely on a single domestic flight operating on time carry elevated risk in the current environment.
Checking flight status repeatedly in the 24 to 48 hours before departure has become essential. LATAM’s official channels provide the most up to date information on operational changes, though sudden late night adjustments can still catch passengers off guard. Travelers should ensure that contact details in their bookings are accurate and that they are opted in to receive notifications by email and mobile messaging. Those who booked via online travel agencies or partner airlines should monitor both the third party platform and LATAM’s own systems for discrepancies.
When disruptions do occur, arriving at the airport early can significantly improve the chances of securing a satisfactory rebooking. Passengers at the front of the queue are more likely to access limited seats on alternative flights or partner services. Maintaining a flexible mindset and being open to creative routings, such as flying into a nearby city and continuing overland, can also make the difference between salvaging a trip and losing entire days to airport limbo.
Above all, travelers should budget extra time and resources for contingency plans. That might mean purchasing travel insurance with robust interruption coverage, setting aside funds for potential extra nights in hotels, or choosing fully flexible rates for critical ground arrangements. In the current phase of strain on Peru’s air network, such precautions are less a luxury than a practical necessity.
What This Means for the Future of Air Travel in Peru
The current wave of LATAM cancellations and delays is both a symptom and a catalyst of broader change in Peru’s aviation landscape. Structural issues at Lima’s primary airport, including capacity constraints and evolving fee structures, are already pushing airlines to reassess their networks. LATAM’s decision to cut several international routes from Lima in 2026, combined with growing competition from regional carriers and low cost operators, suggests that Peru’s air connectivity map will look different within a few years.
For travelers, this may ultimately bring a mix of positives and negatives. On one hand, heightened competition and regulatory scrutiny could incentivize airlines to invest in more reliable operations, improved customer service, and clearer communication during disruptions. On the other, a retreat from marginal routes or reduced frequencies on key domestic links could constrain options for reaching certain parts of the country, making trip planning more complex and, at times, more expensive.
In the near term, Peru’s tourism and business communities will be watching closely to see how LATAM stabilizes its operations and whether other carriers step in to fill any gaps left by cancellations and route suspensions. The government, airport authorities, and industry groups face mounting pressure to coordinate more effectively on capacity planning, fee structures, and contingency arrangements to avoid repeated episodes of mass disruption.
For now, the sight of travelers camped out on terminal floors in Lima, Arequipa, Cajamarca, Cusco, and Trujillo is a tangible reminder that a country’s reputation as a destination depends as much on the reliability of its air bridges as on the allure of its cultural and natural wonders. Until the underlying pressures on Peru’s aviation system ease, anyone planning a journey across this remarkable country will need to tread carefully, plan ahead, and be prepared for plans to change at a moment’s notice.