New airport has a lot of old problems (but the food is fabulous)

The journey to Jorge Chavez International Airport from downtown Lima is slow, until a promised highway and rail line is complete.AlamyThe flightLima to Melbourne via Santiago, Chile

Whatever the flaws of the airport itself, they can’t compete with the journey to get there. It’s roughly 22 kilometres from my hotel in Miraflores to the airport, and based on local advice I calculate at least an hour’s travel. But this spirals to 80 minutes thanks to both the intense traffic in Lima and the lack of a direct route. My ride-share driver darts in and out of unpaved backstreets to dodge the jam and at times has to drive in the opposite direction to navigate roadworks. These might be for the proposed highway and subway to the airport, due to be completed in the coming years, but it’s impossible to tell. In any case, losing 20 minutes from my check-in time for my LATAM flight is anxiety-inducing.

The airport design comes from the “massive shed” school of architecture.Getty ImagesLima’s new airport (opened in June last year) has been designed from the “massive shed” school of airport architecture and there’s been little embellishment to disguise this fact. But that doesn’t really bother me, I’m not looking for interior inspiration from an airport. More importantly, the signage is good and in multiple languages and it’s easy to find my check-in counter.

Check-in machines are not working during our writer’s visit.Getty ImagesI arrive into and depart from Jorge Chavez four times on this South America trip, so I’m already familiar with the set-up. The first time I check in for a flight to Cuzco I waste precious minutes trying to use the automatic check-in stations. When it’s clear the machines are not working, I’m directed to a long queue (and a long wait) for the human process. For this flight I avoid that possibility by going straight to the counter, but I’m only allowed to check in one bag (as per my ticket), so I lug my second bag over my shoulder for the security shuffle. In contrast, my two arrivals into Jorge Chavez are seamless: straight through to baggage collection, a quick passport check and I’m on my way to the city.

There are long queues for travellers with foreign passports and they move slowly. Bag screening is also leisurely but I finally get through with 45 minutes to spare before I need to head to my gate.

In a country that loves food so much I expect a lot from its food court and I’m not disappointed. There’s an outpost of the popular La Lucha Sangucheria Criolla (enormous sandwiches stuffed with various roast meats and spicy sauces), Dr Polleria for roast chicken, a burger bar and Japanese restaurant Ko, among other offerings. Knowing how enormous portions typically are, I buy a small cheese empanada – a snack I’ve eaten almost every day in the two weeks I’ve been in Peru – to say a culinary farewell to the country.

One thing I do like about this airport is the duty-free section, which is in a circular space in the middle of the international area. Rather than forcing passengers to walk through it, they can choose to shop or not. I check out all the food options in departures first, then find myself wandering through duty free, hoping to find something to spend my last Peruvian sol on. As well as the standard global offerings, the upscale alpaca brands Kuna and Sol Alpaca have their own sections, there’s a huge and popular display of pisco, and loads of high-quality local chocolate and snack brands. I nab a buy-three-pay-for-two deal on local hot sauce.

Once you’ve browsed the shops there’s very little to do. I head to my gate early, charge all my devices and send some work emails. Looks like almost everyone else is either on their phone or doing the same.

Every new airport has teething problems but Jorge Chavez still has some work to do.

The writer travelled as a guest of TravelMarvel.

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.

Remove items from your saved list to add more.