Yes. You can smoke at Jorge Chávez International Airport (LIM) — only at designated outdoor areas outside the terminal building, landside before you pass security. There is no airside or indoor smoking.
Jorge Chávez International is Lima’s airport and Peru’s main international gateway — the primary hub for the Andean region and one of South America’s busiest airports. On 1 June 2025 the brand-new terminal opened and the old building closed to passengers the same day. The new terminal is roughly three times the size of the original, with arrivals on Level 1 and departures on Level 3, and it follows Peru’s smoke-free law throughout: every indoor and airside space is smoke-free, so plan your last cigarette outside the building before you check in.
Where to Smoke: Outside the Terminal
Smoking at LIM is outdoors only, at designated areas outside the terminal building on the landside kerb, before security. Step out of the doors at the departures or arrivals kerb and look for the marked outdoor smoking points.
- Before departure: smoke outside on the Level 3 departures kerb before you join the check-in queue — once you pass security, your next chance is after you land.
- After arrival: clear immigration, baggage and customs on Level 1, exit the building, and smoke at the outdoor areas by the arrivals kerb.
- No indoor smoking rooms exist anywhere in the terminal; Peruvian law bars enclosed indoor smoking.
Inside the New Terminal: Departures Level 3, Arrivals Level 1
The 2025 building is far larger than the old terminal, and none of that extra space went to smokers. Check-in, security screening, international immigration and every boarding gate sit on Level 3 (departures), all fully smoke-free. Level 1 handles arrivals — immigration, baggage claim, customs and ground transport — with the airline lounges and quieter seating on the upper floor; no lounge at LIM has a smoking room.
The new terminal has no airside smoking area of any kind — no smoking room, no terrace, no smoking lounge past security. The old terminal’s airside smoking bar closed back in May 2017 and was never replaced, and the 2025 building did not bring one back. Do not board expecting to find one at the gates.
International Transit and Connections
Lima is the main connecting hub for the Andean region, and for smokers a connection here means a smoke-free layover unless you leave the secure area. There is no airside smoking, so the only way to smoke mid-connection is:
- Skip the transfer counters (second floor, before security) and instead clear Peruvian immigration as an arriving passenger.
- Exit the terminal on Level 1 and smoke at the designated outdoor areas by the kerb.
- Re-clear security and immigration for your onward flight.
Budget generous time for this — security and immigration queues at LIM can be long at peak, and international departures board from Level 3. On a connection under about three hours, the safer play is to smoke before your first flight and treat the Lima layover as smoke-free.
Vaping
Peru’s smoke-free law (consolidated under Ley 32159) declares enclosed public spaces, workplaces and public transport 100% smoke-free and vape-free. E-cigarettes are treated the same as cigarettes, so vape only at the designated outdoor areas outside the terminal.
Summary
| Area | Smoking | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Indoor (terminal) | No | Enclosed smoking barred by Peruvian law |
| After security / airside | No | None in the new terminal; old airside bar closed 2017 |
| Outdoor (landside) | Yes | Designated areas outside the terminal, before security |
For Peru’s airport smoking rules and vaping law, see our Peru airport guide.