Lima Airport Partners, operator of Jorge Chávez Airport, reported this Sunday that the start of the collection of the uniform airport use fee (TUUA) for passengers on international routes was normal, despite the confusion and complaints from travelers who claimed not to have been informed about the mandatory payment.
According to the concessionaire, in the first hours of implementation – between 3:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. – passengers made payment without any problems and were able to continue their flight, with service times of less than five minutes and a maximum peak time of 15 minutes between 6:30 a.m. and 7:20 a.m., a situation controlled through operational adjustments such as the separation of lines for card and cash payments.
LAP said 89% of transactions were made by card and only 11% were in cash, with an authorized operator available to facilitate currency exchanges. A total of 2,238 transactions were carried out: 1,993 with cards – 647 at the POS, 492 at counters and 854 on the platform – and 245 in cash. However, several passengers said they were unaware of the charges despite previous communications from the airport and confirmation from airlines.
The operator stated that it would continue to make improvements and monitor operations and service times to ensure a more agile and clear experience, stressing that integrating this fee into the ticket price, as is done at other airports around the world, would help reduce friction in this process.
Previously, IATA and AETAI criticized the TUUA fee of $11.86 per section for international connections at Jorge Chávez Airport as it weakens Lima as a regional hub and makes travel more expensive for international and Peruvian passengers.
According to the calculations, the tariff limits international traffic growth to 3% per year until 2041, compared to 9% that could be achieved without the fee. They found that airports such as Bogota, Panama, Santiago and Mexico City do not charge this fee and have seen strong growth in destinations and connections.
Both organizations called for the intervention of President José Jerí and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to find a solution that does not pass the costs on to travelers and maintains the country’s competitiveness in air transport.
On the first day of the measure, passengers reported long lines, lack of information and surprise at the mandatory payment, which they viewed as a “double fee,” and many warned that they would avoid a stopover in Lima in the future.
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