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I have an international flight to Lima, and I would like to go to Cusco the same day. I'm strongly considering going directly without leaving the airport.

Would 2.5 hours be enough to transfer? I have only a small backpack, no luggage.

I am aware of the risks of self-transfers. This would be a one-way flight, and I have a plan B in case I miss it, and it won't ruin my holidays, though it would be quite a hassle. Therefore, if the chances of making the flight are over 95 %, I would still do it.

André
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3 Answers3

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Hard to say. It depends a lot on time of day (immigration wait times vary a lot during the day), what airline, what class of service, status (is any), passport and type of Visa (if any), check in time and gate closing time of local airline, etc.

Last time I flew into Lima on United using a US passport. The flight was reasonably on time and I got through within maybe 15 minutes or so, but it was fairly late in the evening and things weren't busy.

There are almost 40 non stops from LIM to Cusco every day. Unless you are coming in late in the day, it should be easy to find an alternative with more margin. Personally, I go for a minimum of 4 hours for a self connection unless there are mitigating circumstances (in either direction).

Hilmar
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There is a chance that you will make it but I would say it is slim. For some reason, the airport in Lima operates very slowly and tends to have enormous wait times at most steps in the process. Immigration is particularly slow and since it will be an international to domestic transfer, you'll have to go through it. Then you have to line up for security. I've been through that airport dozens of times and it still surprises me how much longer people have to wait compared to other major airports in Latin America.

Itai
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I just made it from the previous international flight to the domestic boarding area. It took about 20 minutes to go through passport control and get to the landside, which is a requirement for all domestic connections. Security was another 15 minutes. So in the end I had 2 hours and 25 minutes to spare.

Two additional thoughts:

  • I didn't have checked luggage, but even with checkered luggage it is a very small difference. The route is the same and the only extra steps would be to collect luggage at the belt and checked it back at the desk. Both places along the connection route.
  • My flight had no history of delays, I checked that before booking and it surely weights when deciding how much time to leave between flights. Personally I would consider 3 hours again.
André
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