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Home  >  News • Peru  >  International Protests Mount Over New Machu Picchu Airport
NewsPeru

International Protests Mount Over New Machu Picchu Airport

Matthew Klint Posted onJune 13, 2019June 13, 2019 13 Comments

Last month, I wrote about a proposed new airport near Machu Picchu in Peru. Many readers expressed outrage over its construction. As construction progresses, international protests have increased.

Even though the new airport has been planned for decades, it was only this year in which the Peruvian government broke ground on the project. Chinchero International Airport will be situated in Sacred Valley, offering a far easier gateway into Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail than flying into Cusco. The airport is excepted to become Peru’s second largest (behind Lima).

Archeologists, historians, and environmentalists from all over the world have signed a petition against the airport, which warns:

An airport in the surroundings of the Sacred Valley will affect the integrity of a complex Inca landscape and will cause irreparable damage due to noise, traffic and uncontrolled urbanisation.

Now, over 50,000 people have signed the petition and around-the-clock protests are occurring near the construction site. But the Peruvian government is unmoved. In a recent press conference, Peru’s President Martín Vizcarra forcefully defended the project and vowed that it would be built, protests or not. He argued that years of research on environmental impact were performed and defiantly proclaimed, “This is not an improvisation! The Chinchero Airport moves ahead!”

CONCLUSION

Protests will continue, but so will construction. With a government so determined to build the airport, I am not sure there is any realistic hope of stopping construction. There will be plusses and minuses to a new airport, which I discussed in my previous post. The question is whether Machu Picchu itself can physically handle the additional tourists? Peru already allows in double the number of daily visitors than UNESCO recommends. Will that number climb even higher?

Read My Machu Picchu Trip Report

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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13 Comments

  1. Gene Reply
    June 13, 2019 at 10:24 am

    This is awesome. We can finally go to Machu Picchu comfortably. Count me in as soon as the airport opens.

    • chiguy1979 Reply
      June 13, 2019 at 1:26 pm

      Gene, I’m sure you’ll want to wait until the McDonald’s opens and you can get your Starbucks frapuccino for the luxury coach. A Big Mac and a 20 oz coffee are the definition of American comfort, right? I’d hate to see you actually experience another culture.

      • William Fehr Reply
        June 13, 2019 at 7:14 pm

        I wonder how much the entrenched business interests in Cusco and Lima are paying this author and the fake protesters. Realize tens of thousands of local Peruvians marched FOR this vital airport. It greatly reduces fuel usage to Peru and will help many of the poor people in Peru.

        • Kyle Stewart Reply
          June 13, 2019 at 8:45 pm

          Speaking on behalf of LiveAndLetsFly.com, I can unequivocally assure you that no one has paid us for this post (or any other since moving to Boarding Area) and if so it would have been marked “Sponsored.” However, I assume my very response will be proof positive to conspiracy theorists that we are genuine shills and to such absurd claimants, I would suggest relaxing with a tall cold glass of Cusqueña beer and a bowl of ceviche.

    • William Fehr Reply
      June 13, 2019 at 7:15 pm

      I Agree the people of Peru need this airport!

      • chiguy1979 Reply
        June 13, 2019 at 10:07 pm

        Do tell, how will this help many of the poor people of Peru? I’d love to hear some examples. I’m sure their air and water quality will get better, right? Better access to nature? High paying jobs serving entitled visitors coffee and beers at the airport?

        • colleen Reply
          June 13, 2019 at 10:34 pm

          Um, chiguy1979, do you have a particular burr under your saddle? What prompts you to jump in and snarkily attack other commenters?

          Especially the first attack when you impugn motives for a person you know nothing about.

          Do you have a particular issue with Peru?

          Chill, dude.

          • JoEllen
            June 14, 2019 at 12:01 pm

            Seriously?….his opinion is strong but it is right……Like so many other (worldwide) tourist attractions, this will just become another “Disney” experience full of McDonalds, Hard Rock cafes and Starbucks just to cater to wealthy, money-is-no-object Americans and Europeans. Pretty sure the locals do not need “American” jobs in a place they have succeeded and live in for centuries.

    • Ryan Reply
      June 14, 2019 at 12:29 pm

      Stop calling it a “Machu Picchu Airport”. Regardless of whether you are for or against it, it is extremely misleading to call it a Machu airport when it reality it is a multiple hours of travel away from Machu Picchu.

  2. Kerry Reply
    June 13, 2019 at 3:50 pm

    This is horrifying. “This is why we can’t have nice things” comes to mind.

    An integral part of the beauty of Machu Picchu is the (relative) difficulty of travel there. I saw it during the rainy season and it already felt somewhat overrun – I can’t imagine how it feels with the peak season highs that, as you point out, are double the UNESCO guidelines. I can’t picture any way the site could handle more visitors without ruining the experience and seriously degrading the landscape.

    As an aside, this would also seem to have very negative implications for Cusco, a stunningly beautiful and unique city in its own right that deserves to be visited by anyone travelling to the Sacred Valley.

  3. Roman Reply
    June 14, 2019 at 5:01 am

    Absolutely horrible. Machu Picchu and the valley itself is already getting destroyed by having too people visit it and it is ruining one of the most amazing places on the planet. Utter shame.

  4. Daniel Casavecchia Reply
    June 14, 2019 at 7:28 am

    The only thing I can think is:

    WHY THE HECK DO WE HAVE NICE THINGS IF NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO GO AND SEE THEM???

    The only reason we are preserving heritage stuff is so that people can study it and get to know history and culture more. Why should someone try and keep people away from it???

  5. AggOwl Reply
    June 14, 2019 at 11:03 am

    They make it sound like they are building this airport on top of the ruins. This airport is 35 miles from the ruins on a direct line. From the airport you have to take a car, train and bus over 60 miles to get to the Machu Picchu site.
    It is 35 miles from the ruins on a direct line. That is equivalent to an airport in Stamford Connecticut being a Threat to the statue of Liberty or the Airport in Reno relative to Squaw Valley.
    Sensationalism at its best!

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