Travel across Peru faced fresh turbulence on February 11, 2026, as passengers reported a new wave of disruptions linked to LATAM operations and regional carrier Arequipa Airlines. More than ten flights were cancelled or severely delayed across key domestic and international routes, affecting connectivity between Lima, Cusco, Arequipa, Bogota, Tarapoto and other important hubs. The latest interference comes on top of a difficult week for the country’s aviation sector, with mounting concerns over reliability at Peru’s busiest airports and the broader impact on tourism and business travel.
Fresh Cancellations Hit Key Peruvian Routes
On February 11, 2026, a new update from aviation and travel industry monitors highlighted that over a dozen LATAM Peru and LATAM Colombia services scheduled to operate in and out of Lima, Cusco, Arequipa and Jaén had been cancelled, with many more delayed. While earlier in the week disruptions were concentrated on routes linking Lima with cities such as Arequipa, Cajamarca, Cusco and Trujillo, the latest wave has broadened concern to include strategic international and regional sectors like Lima to Bogota and important domestic links often used as gateways to the Amazon and northern Peru.
Among the flights affected are services connecting tourists and residents between Lima and Cusco, the indispensable bridge for reaching Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley, as well as flights between Lima and Arequipa, a popular hub for journeys to Colca Canyon. Regional itineraries from Lima toward northern and jungle destinations such as Tarapoto have also seen cancellations or schedule disruptions, straining capacity on remaining services and forcing last minute changes for travelers who rely on these routes for both tourism and essential mobility.
Arequipa Airlines, a smaller but increasingly visible regional operator, has also been impacted as operational pressures and congestion at key airports ripple through the domestic network. While the majority of cancellations and delays are being associated with LATAM’s Peru and Colombia affiliates, regional carriers sharing the same terminals and ground services inevitably feel the knock-on effects, from slot changes to turnaround bottlenecks and crew availability challenges.
Operational Challenges and a Strained Hub in Lima
Industry observers point to a combination of structural and short term factors behind the recurring disruptions. Lima’s Jorge Chávez International Airport remains the dominant hub for both domestic and international travel in Peru, and any interference there quickly affects onward connections to Cusco, Arequipa and smaller cities. Recent experience has shown that when ground operations are stretched, the first casualties tend to be short haul regional flights that feed into or out of Lima, leading to a cascade of cancellations and rolling delays across the day’s schedule.
In mid 2025, Peru’s new terminal infrastructure at Lima was already under scrutiny following fuel distribution issues that produced lengthy delays and cancellations on several LATAM flights. Those incidents exposed weaknesses in ramp coordination, refueling logistics and passenger processing at peak times, highlighting how quickly the system can become saturated. While the current wave of cancellations is framed as operational rather than technical, the pattern reinforces concerns that the hub’s resilience remains limited when airlines experience crew rotations under pressure, mismatched aircraft allocation or scheduling disruptions earlier in the day.
Complicating matters further, LATAM has also embarked on a gradual restructuring of its Lima based international network, triggered in part by a new airport fee regime scheduled to take full effect in late March 2026. The carrier has already notified the market that it will discontinue several international routes from Lima in the coming northern summer season, citing cost pressures and a loss of competitiveness. This broader recalibration of capacity may be encouraging tighter fleet utilization in the interim, reducing the buffer airlines can rely on to recover from irregular operations when the unexpected strikes.
Impact on Cusco, Arequipa, Bogota and Secondary Cities
The practical impact of the latest disruptions has been felt most acutely in Cusco, Arequipa and Lima, where travellers found themselves stranded or forced into long waits for rebooking. Cusco’s Alejandro Velasco Astete airport handles a dense schedule of daily flights to the capital, and any cancellations quickly affect tour groups with fixed itineraries built around trains to Machu Picchu, pre booked treks and non refundable hotel stays. For many visitors who have only a narrow window in Peru, losing even a single connection between Lima and Cusco can derail carefully planned journeys.
In Arequipa, Peru’s second city and a key tourism and business center, travellers have faced both outright cancellations and rolling delays in recent days. This has been especially problematic for those using Arequipa as a jumping off point for tours to Colca Canyon or overland routes towards Puno and Lake Titicaca. Missed connections and uncertain departure times complicate multi city routes, and the reduced predictability makes it harder for local operators to guarantee on time starts for early morning excursions.
Internationally, passengers on Lima Bogota services have also encountered schedule instability, compounding the challenge for travellers connecting onward into Colombia or onward from Bogota to North America and Europe. While many long haul flights continue to operate, disruptions on regional feeders create an additional layer of anxiety, forcing passengers to consider longer layovers and buffer times in order to protect critical connections. Secondary cities such as Tarapoto and Jaén, which depend heavily on a small number of daily flights, have experienced disproportionate stress, as each cancellation eliminates a significant share of the day’s available seats.
Passenger Experience: Crowded Terminals and Limited Information
For those on the ground, the lived experience of the disruptions has been one of crowded terminals, long lines at service counters and limited real time information. In Lima, Cusco and Arequipa, travelers report arriving at airports to discover cancelled flights with relatively short notice, followed by protracted waits to speak to airline staff about rebooking options. With multiple flights affected at once, customer service desks quickly reach capacity, leaving many passengers reliant on mobile apps or call centers that themselves can become saturated.
Families with young children and older travelers have been especially exposed to the strain, as long waits in crowded boarding areas and a lack of clarity about when replacement flights will depart heighten stress. For international tourists with limited Spanish, the challenge of navigating sudden changes, reissued boarding passes and new security checks can be particularly daunting. Even when digital systems offer notifications about schedule changes, the rush to secure a seat on the next available departure often requires face to face negotiation at airport counters.
Local business travelers and residents, meanwhile, face the prospect of missed meetings, cancelled medical appointments and disrupted personal commitments. For those flying to Lima for same day connections on separate tickets, irregular operations raise the risk of missed onward journeys not covered by airline protections. The repeated need to adjust or rebook at short notice also translates into financial stress, from last minute hotel stays to change fees on non flexible reservations, even where airlines provide partial relief.
What LATAM and Arequipa Airlines Are Saying
LATAM has attributed this week’s wave of cancellations and delays primarily to operational and scheduling challenges rather than a single technical failure. While detailed flight by flight reasons remain sparse, the pattern suggests a mix of aircraft rotation problems, crew availability issues and congestion at key airports, particularly during morning and evening peaks when Peru’s domestic network is densest. The airline has emphasized that safety remains its overriding priority, seeking to reassure passengers even as it struggles to restore regularity.
Arequipa Airlines, operating a smaller regional network that often interfaces with LATAM’s services, has acknowledged knock on effects from disruptions at shared airports. When LATAM or other carriers experience irregular operations, slot usage, gate allocations and ground handling resources at mid sized airports can be reshuffled, indirectly affecting regional operators. While Arequipa Airlines has not been at the center of headline cancellations, travelers booked on its services have nonetheless reported schedule changes and tight runway for rebooking when problems erupt in Lima or Cusco.
Publicly, both airlines are under pressure to improve transparency in how they communicate disruptions. Consumer advocates in Peru have urged carriers to provide clearer advance notice, more precise estimates of departure times and more proactive options for rerouting or refunds where travel plans are effectively rendered impossible. In an era when travelers expect near real time updates on their devices, gaps between actual operational status and the information presented on websites, apps and airport screens feed frustration and erode trust.
Broader Context: Fees, Infrastructure and Competition
The current disruptions are unfolding against a backdrop of evolving economics and infrastructure in Peruvian aviation. LATAM Peru has already announced that from late March 2026 it will discontinue several international routes from Lima, citing the impact of a new unified airport use fee applied to international connections. The airline argues that the added charge makes certain connection heavy routes uneconomical, prompting it to prioritize markets with stronger point to point demand or alternative hubs in the region.
At the same time, competitors are seeking to recalibrate their presence in Peru. Low cost carrier SKY Airline, for example, has announced plans to resume several domestic routes, including a direct connection between Cusco and Arequipa, enhancing interregional links that bypass Lima altogether. Such moves highlight how growing competition and alternative route structures can gradually reduce the capital’s near monopoly on domestic connectivity, offering travelers more options when the main hub encounters disruptions.
Yet in the near term, Lima remains the essential pivot for both domestic and international travel to and from Peru. That dependence magnifies the consequences of any irregular operations at Jorge Chávez International Airport. Investments in terminal infrastructure, fuel distribution, ground handling and air traffic management will be essential if the hub is to accommodate future growth in tourism and business travel without recurring bottlenecks that leave passengers stranded and airlines struggling to maintain schedules.
Advice for Travelers Currently in or Heading to Peru
For travelers with imminent trips to Peru, especially those planning to transit through Lima on their way to Cusco, Arequipa, Bogota, Tarapoto or other regional cities, a cautious and proactive approach is advisable over the coming days. Checking flight status repeatedly in the 24 hours before departure, both through airline apps and airport information channels, can provide early warning of schedule changes and give passengers more time to adjust plans.
Where possible, allowing more generous buffers for domestic connections is wise, particularly for those with time sensitive activities such as Machu Picchu entry slots, multi day treks or fixed departure tours. Travelers arranging their own itineraries on separate tickets may want to consider overnight stops in Lima between international arrivals and domestic departures to reduce the risk that a rolling delay leads to cascading missed connections. Those already on the ground in Peru should keep digital copies of bookings handy, along with contact numbers for their airlines and local tour operators.
Passengers facing cancellations or significant delays should document all communications with airlines and retain receipts for additional expenses, such as emergency hotel stays or ground transportation, that may later be eligible for reimbursement under carrier policies or consumer protection rules. Engaging calmly but firmly with airline staff, and asking specifically about options such as rerouting via alternative airports, same day changes and fee waivers, can sometimes unlock more flexible solutions, particularly when disruptions are widespread and clearly beyond the passenger’s control.
Short Term Uncertainty, Long Term Questions
The flight cancellations and delays recorded across Peru this week underscore how vulnerable the country’s air transport network remains to operational shocks. When the same carriers dominate both key domestic routes and international links, and when a single airport shoulders the bulk of national connectivity, the margin for error is slim. Each new wave of disruptions therefore reverberates outward, undermining confidence among travelers and posing a challenge to Peru’s hard won reputation as a relatively accessible destination for global tourism.
For now, the priority for LATAM and Arequipa Airlines is to stabilize operations, clear backlogs and restore predictable schedules on the routes that matter most: Lima to Cusco and Arequipa, Lima to Bogota, and domestic links to secondary cities such as Tarapoto, Cajamarca, Trujillo and Jaén. How quickly normality returns will influence not only individual journeys but also the planning decisions of tour operators, conference organizers and business travelers considering Peru in the months ahead.
In the longer term, these disruptions may accelerate conversations about diversification of hubs, investment in infrastructure and the competitive landscape within Peru’s skies. For travelers, they serve as a timely reminder that flexibility, contingency planning and up to date information are vital ingredients in any itinerary that relies heavily on air connections across this geographically diverse and increasingly popular South American nation.