Yes, you can smoke at Peru’s airports. Open-air smoking outside the terminal buildings, landside, is permitted at Lima, Cusco, Arequipa and Iquitos; none of the four publishes a designated or marked area, and no smoking facility after security is confirmed at any of them. Peru’s Ley 32159 bans vaping the same way, in the same places.
For international travel through Peru, Lima (LIM) is the main Andean hub; Cusco (CUZ) is the country’s second-busiest passenger terminal, Arequipa (AQP) is third, and Iquitos (IQT) is the main air gateway to the Peruvian Amazon.
How Peruvian Airport Smoking Works
Peru’s Ley 32159, published 12 November 2024, bans smoking and vaping together in enclosed public spaces — Article 6.1 prohibits “fumar o vapear” in public buildings, workplaces, closed public spaces and public transport:
- No indoor smoking and no confirmed airside smoking at Lima, Cusco, Arequipa or Iquitos
- Open-air smoking outside the terminals, landside, is permitted; none of the four airports publishes a designated or marked area
- The old Lima terminal’s airside smoking bar closed in 2017; the new 2025 terminal has no airside area
- Vaping is banned wherever smoking is, under Ley 32159 — open air, landside, only
The Main Airports
Jorge Chávez International Airport (LIM). Peru’s main gateway and a key Andean hub. The terminal that opened on 1 June 2025 — roughly three times the size of the old building, with arrivals on Level 1 and departures on Level 3 — has no airside smoking, and neither did its predecessor. The sanctioned option is outdoors at designated areas outside the terminal building, on the departures and arrivals kerbs (landside). International transit passengers clear immigration and exit to smoke, then re-clear security.
Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport (CUZ), Cusco. The gateway to Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley, and Peru’s second-busiest passenger terminal. Smoke at the designated outdoor areas on the landside kerb by departures and arrivals; the single compact terminal has no airside smoking area, terrace or lounge, and it operates in daylight hours only.
Rodríguez Ballón International Airport (AQP), Arequipa. Peru’s third-busiest passenger terminal, serving the “Ciudad Blanca” at roughly 2,600 m above sea level. Open-air smoking outside the terminal, landside, is permitted, with no designated area published — the same pattern as Lima and Cusco — and its paid Andes Salón VIP lounge does not list a smoking area.
Coronel FAP Francisco Secada Vignetta International Airport (IQT), Iquitos. The only airport serving Iquitos — a city in the Peruvian Amazon with no road access, reachable solely by river or air — and it runs 24 hours a day. Open-air smoking outside the terminal, landside, is permitted, with no designated area published, the same as everywhere else in Peru.
Tips for Smokers at Peruvian Airports
- Lima, Cusco, Arequipa and Iquitos all lack a confirmed airside smoking facility — plan around a no-smoking layover at any of them
- Open-air landside smoking is permitted outside all four terminal buildings; none publishes a designated or marked area
- Don’t assume a new or paid facility added an airside smoking lounge — none of Peru’s main airports has one confirmed
- Vaping is banned indoors and after security under Ley 32159 — open air, landside, only
Peru Airports Compared: Indoor, Outdoor & After Security
| Airport | After security | Indoor room | Outdoor area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoking at Arequipa Rodríguez Ballón Airport – AQP | – | – | Yes |
| Smoking at Cusco Airport – CUZ | – | – | Yes |
| Smoking at Iquitos Airport – IQT | – | – | Yes |
| Jorge Chavez International Airport (LIM) | – | – | Yes |