Lima Airport closed last year with 16% cargo volume growth, and its operators now see the capacity to double the number of aircraft parking positions dedicated to freighters after passenger traffic moved to a new terminal in June.

The Peruvian capital's gateway handled 267,000 tonnes of cargo in 2025. Until recently, that figure was capped by hard infrastructure limits: every parking stand on the airport footprint was reserved for passenger aircraft.

"Until June last year, we had restrictions for the aircraft parking positions. The focus was 100 percent for passengers because we didn't have space," explained Paola Loayza, Real Estate Manager at Lima Airport.

The new terminal changed that equation. Relocating passenger operations released land and operational flexibility across the airport site, and cargo is now positioned as a core growth segment rather than a residual user of spare capacity.

Where does Lima's cargo come from?

Trade flow data explains why the airport believes freighter growth is sustainable. Exports account for 54% of total cargo volume, driven largely by high-value perishables and time-sensitive shipments. Roughly half of those export flows concentrate on three hubs: Miami, Madrid and Bogotá.

The import picture is being reshaped by e-commerce. According to the airport, 83% of Peruvian consumers show a preference for Asian products, a demand signal sustaining trans-Pacific cargo flows into Lima and reinforcing the airport's pitch as a node connecting Latin America with North America, Europe and Asia.

"We are seeing a strong recovery in cargo volumes, closing last year with 16% growth, and we expect this trend to continue as new capacity comes online," Loayza said.

Why does location anchor the strategy?

Lima sits on the west coast of South America within a short distance of a seaport, and the airport intends to exploit that geography with integrated sea–air and land–air products aimed at shippers seeking flexibility and diversification.

"The main relevant opportunity for us is the location. We have a strategic location in the middle of South America and also our airport has a very close port," Loayza said.

Strategic partnerships are already in motion. Loayza pointed to collaboration with operators connected to China and Brazil, with e-commerce demand driving new cargo flows on those axes.

"Our strategic focus is to leverage Lima's location to develop multimodal cargo solutions that provide flexibility and efficiency for global supply chains," she added.

For forwarders and carriers, the commercial implication is straightforward: Lima is positioning itself as an alternative routing point for hybrid sea–air movements between Asia and South America, a product class that gains appeal when pure ocean transit is too slow and pure air freight too expensive.

What is Airport City?

The long-term vehicle for the cargo push is the Airport City master plan: a 935-hectare development designed to integrate aeronautical and non-aeronautical activity into a single logistics ecosystem.

"In Airport City we have 935 hectares to develop different business and services infrastructure as ecosystem and services platform," Loayza said.

The cargo-dedicated components include:

• A primary cargo zone of 40,000 square metres;
• A secondary zone of 10,000 square metres near the new terminal;
• More than 36 hectares reserved for future development, including the potential for a free trade zone.

The build-out follows a phased model tied to demand. Near-term work focuses on optimising existing areas and improving landside access rather than pouring concrete speculatively.

"We need to modify the layout to provide new areas for cargo terminals with direct access to the street," Loayza noted.

Direct landside access matters commercially. It shortens truck turnaround times and reduces congestion as volumes climb — operational factors that cargo operators weigh heavily when choosing between competing gateways in the region, including Bogotá, Miami's Latin American feeder network and Brazil's repositioned southern hubs.

Who pays for it?

Lima Airport is not planning to develop the ecosystem alone. The strategy depends on attracting local and international investors to build specialised cargo terminals in partnership with operators, developers and service providers.

"We are actively seeking partnerships with investors and operators to develop specialised cargo terminals and strengthen our overall logistics offering," Loayza said.

The target is a diversified platform where freighter operations sit alongside distribution, storage and value-added processing — a model closer to Miami or Frankfurt's cargo communities than a traditional airport warehouse district.

Loayza acknowledged that concrete and land alone will not deliver the plan. "The relationship with the clients, with the authorities, with all players in the supply chain is very important. Transparency between both sides is key," she said.

With freighter parking positions set to double, 36 hectares of reserve land and a free trade zone on the table, Lima enters its next development phase targeting sustained double-digit growth as new capacity comes online.