Peru is accelerating a strategy of liberal air service agreements with key partners in Europe, Oceania and the Americas, framing ambitious new pacts with Spain, Australia, Chile and Panama as catalysts for restoring tourism, attracting long haul carriers and consolidating Lima as a competitive hub in the global aviation network.
From Bilateral Treaties to a Hub Strategy
The latest wave of air service liberalisation reflects a deliberate shift in Peru’s aviation policy, from tightly managed bilateral quotas to agreements that remove most restrictions on routes, capacity and pricing. Officials at the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism and the Ministry of Transport describe these treaties as the policy backbone for rebuilding international arrivals and diversifying source markets after the pandemic slump.
Peru has long been an advocate of open skies principles within the Americas, but only in the last few years has it moved to sign wide ranging pacts with partners beyond the region. Agreements concluded with Spain, Australia, Chile and Panama are designed to give airlines far greater freedom to decide where and how often to fly, with commercial demand rather than government caps determining growth.
The approach dovetails with major infrastructure upgrades at Lima’s Jorge Chávez International Airport, where a second runway opened in 2023 and a new terminal is being phased in to lift capacity to around 40 million passengers annually by the end of the decade. Aviation planners argue that liberal treaties and expanded infrastructure together are essential if Peru is to position itself as a preferred gateway between South America, Europe, Asia Pacific and North America.
Peru’s strategy also responds to intensifying regional competition. Chile’s Santiago and Panama City’s Tocumen already function as powerful hubs, while Bogotá and São Paulo are growing fast. By easing market entry and signalling regulatory stability, Lima is seeking to attract new flag carriers and low cost operators before traffic flows lock in around rival hubs.
Spain Pact Unlocks Unlimited Transatlantic Capacity
Spain is Peru’s largest European source market and a critical bridge to the wider continent, making the new liberalised air services agreement signed in the context of Fitur 2026 highly significant. The accord removes capacity limits on flights between the two countries, allowing designated airlines to operate unlimited frequencies on routes such as Lima Madrid and to develop links beyond those capitals.
Third and fourth freedom rights in the deal clear the way for more direct round trip services for both passengers and cargo, while provisions on fleet flexibility permit airlines to upgauge aircraft and adjust schedules in response to seasonal demand without seeking prior regulatory approval. Industry analysts expect existing carriers to add frequencies and explore secondary city pairings, deepening connectivity between Peru and multiple Spanish and European gateways.
The agreement builds on a broader tourism push in the Spanish market. Promotional agency PromPerú has launched joint campaigns with carriers such as Air Europa and aligned them with its international branding initiative, Peru Wow, to keep the country visible among high spending European travellers. Officials see liberal air rights as the enabling framework that makes such marketing efforts scalable by ensuring that increasing demand can actually be accommodated.
For tourism operators on the ground, unlimited capacity opens the prospect of more competitive fares on the Peru Spain corridor, which has historically commanded premium pricing during peak seasons. Tour and hospitality businesses anticipate that greater seat availability will support longer booking windows, more group travel and stronger dispersion of visitors beyond Lima to regions such as Cusco, Arequipa and the northern coast.
Australia Agreement Bridges a Long Haul Gap
The air services agreement recently concluded between Peru and Australia is another cornerstone of Lima’s connectivity drive, even though there are currently no nonstop flights between the two countries. The pact establishes open skies style provisions for designated airlines, allowing them to operate services between any point in Peru and any point in Australia, with minimal restrictions on capacity and frequency.
Traffic data show that origin and destination demand between Peru and Australia has been growing steadily, with tens of thousands of passengers each year routing via hubs in Chile, New Zealand or North America. With Lima’s expanded airport capacity and the new treaty in place, both governments argue that the market conditions are becoming more favourable for at least one carrier to test direct services between Lima and Australian gateways such as Sydney or Melbourne.
For Peru’s tourism planners, the agreement is about much more than point to point travel. By creating a permissive regulatory environment for long haul operators, it strengthens the case for Lima as an intermediate hub linking Oceania with other parts of Latin America. Airlines could eventually route passengers from Australia through Lima to destinations in the Andean region, the Amazon basin or even the Caribbean, giving Peru an expanded role in South South connectivity.
Industry observers caution that launching such long haul routes will depend on aircraft availability, fuel prices and the competitive response from entrenched hubs, particularly Santiago. Even so, the existence of a liberal treaty reduces one of the key barriers to entry, giving network planners greater flexibility to experiment as demand evolves over the next decade.
Deepening Integration with Chile and Panama
Peru’s air service arrangements with Chile and Panama are equally central to its vision of a more interconnected regional sky. Chile, home to one of Latin America’s largest airline groups and a mature hub in Santiago, already channels a substantial share of South America’s long haul traffic. By keeping its bilateral framework with Chile liberal and transparent, Peru ensures that carriers can maintain and grow high frequency links between Lima and Santiago that support both point to point tourism and connections onward to Oceania and Europe.
With Panama, the focus is on anchoring Peru within the north south trunk network that runs through Tocumen International Airport, historically marketed as the hub of the Americas. Liberal provisions in the Peru Panama agreement allow Panama based and Peruvian carriers to add services and fine tune schedules as demand rebounded, reinforcing Lima’s access to city pairs throughout Central America, the Caribbean and the southern United States.
These arrangements matter for tourism because a significant share of visitors to Peru now arrive via connections rather than on nonstop flights from their origin country. Flexible bilateral frameworks with regional hubs help ensure that itineraries combining Peru with neighbouring destinations, such as multi country Andean circuits or beach and culture combinations, remain easy to construct and competitively priced.
Officials in Lima also see closer aviation integration with Chile and Panama as a buffer against shocks in any single market. When one source country slows, connectivity via regional hubs can help redirect flows from other parts of the world, making Peru’s tourism sector more resilient to cyclical downturns and geopolitical disruptions.
Tourism Growth, Market Diversification and Local Impact
Peru’s tourism authorities link liberal air agreements directly to their growth and diversification targets. International arrivals by air more than doubled in the decade before the pandemic, and policymakers now want not just a return to those volumes but a broader mix of source markets that reduces reliance on neighbouring countries and the United States.
Pacts with Spain and Australia in particular are viewed as tools to deepen access to high value, long stay travellers. Spanish visitors already rank among the highest spending European tourists in Peru, and Australian travellers typically combine multiple regions in a single trip, from Lima’s gastronomic scene to trekking in the Andes and cruises on the Amazon. Liberal air rights make it easier for airlines to serve these segments with tailored schedules and seasonal capacity.
At the same time, increased connectivity through partners in Chile and Panama supports intra regional tourism, which often proves more resilient during global shocks. Tour operators report growing demand for multi destination itineraries that weave together Peru with Chilean Patagonia, Caribbean islands or Central American eco tourism circuits. Open frameworks between aviation markets make such complex journeys straightforward from a ticketing and connection standpoint.
On the ground, the potential benefits are distributed across a wide value chain. More flights can translate into higher occupancy in hotels and guesthouses, increased demand for guides and transport services, and stronger markets for artisanal products and local food. Peruvian authorities emphasise that to fully capture these gains, liberal air policies must be matched with investments in sustainable tourism management, particularly in iconic sites such as Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley.
Balancing Liberalisation with Infrastructure and Cost Pressures
While air service liberalisation expands commercial opportunities, industry groups warn that regulatory and cost factors within Peru could still constrain the tourism upside. Regional airline associations have raised concerns about airport charges and concession arrangements, arguing that high fees risk undermining the competitive advantage that open skies style agreements are supposed to provide.
The prolonged transition to Lima’s new terminal complex has also posed operational challenges, with airlines closely watching the pace at which check in, security and border control processes adapt to higher volumes. For tourism to benefit fully from liberal pacts, carriers insist that infrastructure and service standards must keep pace so that the passenger experience remains smooth throughout growth cycles.
Peruvian officials counter that the new runway and terminal investments, combined with modernised air traffic management, will gradually reduce congestion and improve punctuality, making Lima more attractive as both an origin and connecting hub. They contend that in the medium term, economies of scale from higher traffic volumes will help spread fixed costs and support more competitive pricing.
The debate highlights a broader reality across Latin America, where governments often sign liberal aviation agreements faster than they can upgrade airports and surrounding transport networks. Peru’s case will be closely watched as a test of whether a country can align treaty ambition, infrastructure delivery and cost regulation in a way that truly accelerates tourism and trade.
Global Connectivity and Peru’s Position in Emerging Flows
Beyond traditional markets, Peru’s liberal air services strategy is also aimed at capturing emerging traffic flows between Asia and Latin America. Agreements such as the Peru Australia air services treaty and other recently implemented accords in the Asia Pacific region create a legal foundation for future routes that link Asian hubs to Lima either directly or via intermediate stops.
If airlines eventually deploy new generation long range aircraft on these corridors, Lima could serve as a convenient gateway for Asian visitors heading not only to Peru’s iconic heritage sites but also to neighbouring countries. Such positioning would help diversify the country’s tourism and business travel base and raise its profile in long haul markets where awareness of Peru’s offerings is still developing.
In the shorter term, liberal pacts with Spain, Chile and Panama have already enhanced Peru’s access to multi stop itineraries that cross between continents. European travellers can more easily combine Peru with other Latin American destinations in a single trip, while North American visitors can route through regional hubs to reach Peruvian cities with fewer constraints on capacity and scheduling.
Analysts note that as global aviation continues to reorganise around flexible partnerships and joint ventures, countries that maintain liberal, predictable market access frameworks will be better placed to attract investment in new routes and fleet. Peru’s recent agreements suggest that it intends to be in that category, using aviation diplomacy as a lever for broader goals in tourism, trade and cultural exchange.