Hopefully this reaches fellow travelers who are planning excursions in South America. I just had my first experience in the Lima Airport, and unfortunately have to repeat it next week when I return home, but maybe others can avoid the headache.
Avianca had a package from Quito to Santiago, Chile that included a ~1.5 hour layover in Lima, Peru. I figured that if they were giving me such a small layover, that it was a small airport and I should have no trouble making my flight. My flight from Quito landed about 15 minutes late, already cutting my layover short, but I wasn't too worried. I discovered that it is a small airport, that much is true. But I just barely made my flight.
According to a family member who traveled through Lima in the early 2000s, not much has changed since then. There is construction everywhere and as a result the security lines that ALL international transfer travelers must pass through consists of 4 luggage scanners and 2 metal detectors. The result is a 30-45 minute line waiting to make it to this security checkpoint, and then just chaos. The people working there don't actually know what you need to take off and what you don't, so they just say "give it a try" and if the metal detector goes off you can just take it off. That results in many people going through the detector 2-3 times, and random small baskets of belongings being shoved through the luggage scanners. Luckily I only had to return to remove my shoes, but then I had to wait for 2 confused people to figure out exactly what was setting the scanner off.
If you ask any of the airport workers if you have time to make it through the line, they say yes of course. And, if you're worried, they reassure you that the airlines come down to security to search for people if the flight needs to leave. Do you feel reassured?
Luckily I got to my gate as they made the final "and everyone else for the flight to Santiago" call. However, my layover on the way back is even shorter, and I need to make it to Quito on time to catch my next flight with a different airline. So hopefully that adventure goes well.
Just wanted to put this out there to warn other travelers to look for connections that don't pass through Lima or that have longer layovers. Happy travels!
Avianca had a package from Quito to Santiago, Chile that included a ~1.5 hour layover in Lima, Peru. I figured that if they were giving me such a small layover, that it was a small airport and I should have no trouble making my flight. My flight from Quito landed about 15 minutes late, already cutting my layover short, but I wasn't too worried. I discovered that it is a small airport, that much is true. But I just barely made my flight.
According to a family member who traveled through Lima in the early 2000s, not much has changed since then. There is construction everywhere and as a result the security lines that ALL international transfer travelers must pass through consists of 4 luggage scanners and 2 metal detectors. The result is a 30-45 minute line waiting to make it to this security checkpoint, and then just chaos. The people working there don't actually know what you need to take off and what you don't, so they just say "give it a try" and if the metal detector goes off you can just take it off. That results in many people going through the detector 2-3 times, and random small baskets of belongings being shoved through the luggage scanners. Luckily I only had to return to remove my shoes, but then I had to wait for 2 confused people to figure out exactly what was setting the scanner off.
If you ask any of the airport workers if you have time to make it through the line, they say yes of course. And, if you're worried, they reassure you that the airlines come down to security to search for people if the flight needs to leave. Do you feel reassured?
Luckily I got to my gate as they made the final "and everyone else for the flight to Santiago" call. However, my layover on the way back is even shorter, and I need to make it to Quito on time to catch my next flight with a different airline. So hopefully that adventure goes well.
Just wanted to put this out there to warn other travelers to look for connections that don't pass through Lima or that have longer layovers. Happy travels!
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