Travelers across Peru are facing fresh uncertainty as a new wave of cancellations and delays involving LATAM and regional carrier Arequipa Airlines disrupts key domestic and international routes. More than ten flights have been cancelled across major airports including Lima, Cusco, Arequipa, Tarapoto and Bogotá connections, with dozens more experiencing significant delays. The disruptions underscore the growing operational strain on Peru’s air network at a time when the country is relying heavily on tourism recovery and domestic mobility.
A Turbulent Day Across Peru’s Main Hubs
The latest data from February 11, 2026, show a sharp spike in operational disruptions centered on LATAM’s Peruvian network. Industry monitoring indicates that on this date alone, Peru’s main hubs in Lima, Cusco, Arequipa and Jaén together registered at least 17 flight cancellations and 78 delays, with LATAM Peru accounting for the majority of affected operations. These figures build on a pattern of volatility that intensified from February 10, when LATAM Peru logged another 9 cancellations and 48 delays across Peru, Cuba and Mexico.
While weather has not been identified as the primary driver, the concentration of disruptions in a single airline group points toward a combination of internal factors. Operational constraints, aircraft rotations, crew availability and ongoing schedule adjustments following earlier strategic route cuts out of Lima all appear to be converging at once. This has left airports handling a high volume of rebookings, missed connections and passenger service issues on what should be a peak period for leisure and business travel.
Regional operator Arequipa Airlines, which serves several secondary Peruvian cities and complements capacity on routes such as Arequipa and Tarapoto, has also recorded cancellations on select domestic legs. Although its footprint is smaller than LATAM’s, any loss of frequency in Peru’s already concentrated market quickly translates into limited re-accommodation options, especially on popular routes to Cusco and regional gateways connecting to the Amazon and the southern Andes.
Key Routes Affected: Lima, Cusco, Arequipa, Tarapoto and Bogotá
The brunt of the disruption is being felt along Peru’s most important air corridors. Lima’s Jorge Chávez International Airport, the country’s primary hub, has reported multiple LATAM cancellations on domestic trunk routes such as Lima–Cusco and Lima–Arequipa, along with international services linking Lima with Bogotá and other regional centers. Monitoring of scheduled operations shows that while some flights are still departing on time, a growing number are being pushed back by more than an hour, compounding peak-time congestion.
In Cusco, the gateway to Machu Picchu, LATAM has been responsible for all recorded cancellations and the majority of delays over the past 24 hours. This includes evening departures from Cusco to Lima that are critical for passengers trying to connect with overnight long-haul services. Even when flights remain scheduled, recent performance data show arrivals into Lima running considerably late on several days, increasing the risk of missed onward connections for international travelers.
Arequipa’s Rodríguez Ballón airport is experiencing a similar pattern on a smaller scale. LATAM and Arequipa Airlines have both cancelled services on the Lima–Arequipa and Arequipa–Lima legs, while other flights on these routes are posting delays of anywhere from 30 minutes to well over an hour. The disruption has also reached lesser-served destinations; Tarapoto, a key jumping-off point to Peru’s northern Amazon region, has seen cancellations ripple through LATAM’s network, narrowing options for same-day travel. Internationally, Bogotá–Lima links have also reported knock-on delays, highlighting how tightly integrated Peru’s domestic and regional networks have become.
Immediate Impact on Travelers and Tourism
The short-term impact for travelers is significant. On February 11 alone, hundreds of passengers found themselves stranded or forced into last-minute itinerary changes after early-morning cancellations cascaded through the daytime schedule. Long check-in queues, rebooking lines and congested customer service counters have been reported at Lima and Cusco, where high tourist volumes magnify the pressure on airport facilities and airline staff.
For overseas visitors, especially those on tight itineraries combining Lima, Cusco and the Sacred Valley, the cancellations are particularly disruptive. Many travelers arrange carefully sequenced connections from North America or Europe into Lima, followed by domestic links to Cusco or Arequipa on the same day. When a domestic leg is cancelled or substantially delayed, hotel reservations, rail segments to Machu Picchu and pre-booked excursions can all be thrown into disarray, often with non-refundable costs.
Domestic passengers are equally affected. For Peruvians traveling for business, medical appointments, education or family visits, the loss of more than ten flights across a single day sharply reduces flexibility, especially on routes where LATAM and Arequipa Airlines are the dominant or only providers. The concentration of cancellations at peak times means some travelers are being rebooked onto flights departing many hours later, or in some cases, the following day, forcing unplanned overnight stays or alternative ground transport arrangements.
Operational Pressures Behind the Disruptions
While neither LATAM Peru nor Arequipa Airlines have publicly detailed every factor driving this latest wave of cancellations, industry data provide important clues. LATAM’s Peruvian unit is currently implementing a series of network changes out of Lima in response to higher connection costs and the need to prioritize profitable routes. In late 2025, LATAM advised trade partners and passengers that it would cancel several international services from Lima, including links to Orlando, Curacao, Florianopolis and Tucuman, starting from late March 2026. This came on the heels of a new airport transfer fee introduced in Lima, which the airline argued had eroded the competitiveness of certain connecting routes.
At the same time, operational performance records for February show elevated levels of delays on core domestic sectors such as Lima–Cusco and Lima–Arequipa, even on days when flights were not cancelled. In some cases, services that depart only slightly behind schedule arrive much later than planned, indicating that turnaround times, air traffic flow or crew-duty constraints may be contributing to extended block times. When such pressures accumulate over multiple rotations across the day, an airline may be forced to proactively cancel flights in order to reset the schedule and keep remaining operations within regulatory limits.
For a smaller regional carrier like Arequipa Airlines, even a single unplanned aircraft withdrawal or crew shortage can create a disproportionate impact. With limited spare capacity and fewer interchangeable aircraft types than a large group like LATAM, a mechanical issue or crew out-of-position can translate into same-day cancellations on two or more routes. In a market where passengers often rely on infrequent frequencies between secondary cities, these disruptions can be particularly painful.
Strategic Context: Route Cuts and a Fragile Network
These latest disruptions are unfolding against a broader backdrop of strategic retrenchment and regulatory change in Peru’s aviation sector. Throughout 2025, LATAM Peru signaled that higher charges for connecting passengers at Lima’s Jorge Chávez airport would force the carrier to reassess the viability of several international routes. By December, trade advisories were already confirming the planned withdrawal of multiple services from Lima beginning March 29, 2026, with reservations beyond that date progressively being cancelled and refunded.
The cumulative effect of these route reductions is a leaner, more concentrated network that leaves less room to absorb irregular operations. When an airline operates fewer daily frequencies on a given route, the cancellation of even one flight can remove a large share of the day’s capacity, dramatically reducing re-accommodation options. This is precisely the scenario playing out on some Peruvian domestic sectors, where LATAM and a handful of competitors such as Sky Airline, Star Peru and others share a finite pool of slots and aircraft.
Furthermore, Peru’s tourism recovery has been accelerating, with growing passenger numbers channeled through a hub-and-spoke system that depends heavily on Lima. As LATAM prioritizes certain long-haul and regional connections and winds down others, the margin for error on remaining domestic links tightens. Any disruption in aircraft rotations, whether due to maintenance, weather elsewhere in the network or crew availability, can therefore cause disproportionate knock-on effects across Peru’s interior cities.
Advice for Affected and Prospective Travelers
For passengers currently holding tickets on LATAM or Arequipa Airlines in Peru, the most important step is to confirm flight status multiple times on the day of travel. Given the high rate of schedule changes over February 10 and 11, travelers should not rely solely on original booking confirmations. Instead, checking the airline’s official channels and airport departure boards close to departure can provide the earliest warning of cancellations or significant delays.
Those with domestic connections to or from international arrivals in Lima should consider building in extra buffer time between flights. Recent performance has shown that even services listed as “on time” can experience moderate delays, which can become critical when international check-in cutoffs or security queues are taken into account. Travelers with separate tickets for international and domestic legs are especially vulnerable, as they may not be automatically rebooked by the airline if a delay leads to a missed onward flight.
Passengers impacted by cancellations should familiarize themselves with available rebooking, refund and accommodation policies. LATAM has previously offered options including free date changes, rerouting via alternative hubs and involuntary refunds when flights are withdrawn for commercial or operational reasons. However, the exact remedies can vary by fare type and market. Keeping all travel receipts and documenting additional expenses such as hotels or ground transport can be useful if seeking compensation or travel insurance reimbursement later.
What This Means for Peru’s Aviation and Tourism Outlook
The concentration of more than ten cancellations and a far larger number of delays within a short timeframe serves as a warning signal for Peru’s aviation system. While individual days of disruption are not unusual in a regional context marked by complex weather patterns and infrastructure constraints, the recent data underline how vulnerable Peru’s network has become to operational shocks, especially when anchored so heavily on a single dominant carrier.
For tourism stakeholders, the situation highlights the importance of diversifying both air access options and ground-based alternatives. As LATAM adjusts its route map and regional capacity, destinations such as Cusco, Arequipa, Tarapoto and northern Amazon gateways may need to work more closely with multiple carriers to maintain resilience. At the same time, tour operators and travel advisors are likely to emphasize more conservative connection times, overnight stopovers in Lima and flexible booking conditions to shield clients from future disruptions.
In the medium term, the way airlines, regulators and airport operators address these recent events will carry significant weight. Clear communication, customer-focused disruption handling and investment in operational robustness will be critical if Peru is to sustain its hard-won reputation as one of South America’s most attractive and accessible travel destinations. For now, travelers planning journeys across Peru in the coming weeks would be well advised to stay informed, build in contingency time and remain flexible as LATAM and Arequipa Airlines work to stabilize their schedules.