Yes, you can smoke at Peru’s airports. Open-air smoking outside the terminal buildings, landside, is permitted at Lima, Cusco, Arequipa and Iquitos; Lima and Cusco have designated outdoor areas on the landside kerb, Arequipa and Iquitos publish no designated area, and none of the four lists a smoking facility after security. Peru’s Ley 32159 bans vaping the same way, in the same places.
Peru Airports Compared: Before and After Security
Before security, you can always smoke outside: at a designated smoking area where there is one, or outside the airport property, beyond the terminal kerb and car parks. After security, Yes means there is a smoking area past security and a dash means none is listed. Each airport’s page has the details.
| Airport | Before security | After security |
|---|---|---|
| Arequipa (AQP) | Yes | – |
| Cusco (CUZ) | Yes | – |
| Iquitos (IQT) | Yes | – |
| Lima (LIM) | Yes | – |
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 published airside smoking at Lima, Cusco, Arequipa or Iquitos
- Open-air smoking outside the terminals, landside, is permitted — at designated kerbside areas in Lima and Cusco, and in the open air at Arequipa and Iquitos, which publish no designated area
- The old Lima terminal’s airside smoking bar closed in 2017; the new 2025 terminal has no airside smoking 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 the old terminal had none either after its smoking bar closed in May 2017. 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, and its paid Andes Salón VIP lounge is non-smoking.
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 at Arequipa.
Tips for Smokers at Peruvian Airports
- Lima, Cusco, Arequipa and Iquitos all publish no airside smoking facility — plan around a no-smoking layover at any of them
- Open-air landside smoking is permitted outside all four terminal buildings, with designated kerbside areas at Lima and Cusco
- Don’t assume a new or paid facility added an airside smoking lounge — none of Peru’s main airports lists one
- Vaping is banned indoors and after security under Ley 32159 — open air, landside, only