Chinchero Airport, Peru

1/7/22, 09:41 Chinchero Airport, Peru | EJAtlas
Chinchero Airport, Peru
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Description:
The tourism industry is a leading proponent of an airport in the town of Chinchero. Perching on a plateau high in the
Andes, Chinchero overlooks the Sacred Valley of the Incas with spectacular views of snow-capped mountains towards
the Incan citadel of Machu Picchu, designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Peru’s most visited tourist
attraction. Situated on the road linking Cusco, Peru’s main tourist hub, with Macchu Picchu, the rationale for an airport
in Chinchero is to increase the number of tourists and provide easier, more convenient access. But the project has
stoked division and conflict since it was first proposed, in the 1970s. Supporters say it will bring much-needed
employment and prosperity. But there are critics concerned over the socioeconomic and sociocultural impacts.
https://ejatlas.org/print/chinchero-airport 1/20
Chinchero retains its traditional farming and weaving industries as well as maintaining long-established social
structures, customs, and practices such as traditional medicine to a high degree in spite of increasing connections with
the wider world [1].
Land acquisition divided communities
A law conferring powers of compulsory purchase of land on the Chinchero plateau, passed in August 2012, helped
pave the way for the airport.[2] Land acquisition for the project caused divisions between the three historical
communities, Yanacona, Cuper and Ayllopongo. The airport site is in Yanacona territory with community members
having received money for selling their land for the project. But the other two communities did not receive money
even though they will suffer similar negative impacts from the airport as residents of Yanacona. The majority of
Yanacona residents voted in favour of the airport.
Divisions between communities were exacerbated by government dismissal, in cahoots with allied media, of people
raising legitimate social and environmental issues as opponents of ‘progress’ and even portraying them as socially
dangerous [1]. A 2013 report in a local newspaper stated that various members of affected communities had received
death threats from community leaders because they were unwilling to sell land to make way for the airport and other
infrastructure [2].
There was no prior consultation and the government denies indigenous status on the grounds that Chinchero is “too
close to a town” [1]. Compensation for land acquisition was only awarded to a small minority; in January 2013 USD56
million was handed over to 426 people, less than 3 per cent of Chinchero’s 12,000 inhabitants. The 426 beneficiaries
owned the 350 hectares allocated for the airport but a much larger area surrounding the actual site will be affected.
The 40-year construction and operation concession for Chinchero Airport was awarded to the Kuntur Wasi consortium
in April 2014. Construction, at an initial cost of USD538 million rising to USD658 million with further renovations after
the airport commences operations, was anticipated to commence within a few months after the relocation of wells
and reservoirs on the site and completion of engineering studies.[4] A series of scandal about the contract terms
forces the Transport Minister at that time Vizcarra (now President) to renounce. Negotiations over the construction
contract between the government and Kuntur Wasi culminated in unilateral cancellation by the government in January
2018. The project was stopped. The government then announced that construction would be financed by the state
with a USD200 million investment for Phase 1, consisting of a 16 kilometer perimeter fence, followed by ground
leveling works, drainage, paving, and a runway, scheduled for completion in 2021.[4] In 2018 Kuntur Wasi desist to
demand the government before the CIADI.
Often residents of the Cusco region protested delayed construction of the airport which they said was to the
detriment of tourism [11]. In January 2019 a phalanx of bulldozers and trucks arrived in Chinchero to begin clearing
land for the airport. Many archaeologists, anthropologists, and historians said the airport and resulting surge in
tourism-focused development, in particular unregulated construction of hotels and restaurants, would damage the
very cultural wonders-(discovered and undiscovered). Nearly 200 Peruvian and international experts signed a letter to
President Martin Vizcarra calling on him to suspend the airport and consider relocating the project.[15] At the time of
writing a petition accompanying the letter had already garnered 6,563 signatures.[16]
Protest against the airport was reported in October 2014, members of a women’s weaving collective expressed their
fear about the disappearance of traditions.
Highlighting possible violations of indigenous people’s rights CAN president Antolin Huáscar Flores called for
responsible intervention by authorities to ensure their participation in and economic benefit from the airport.
In May 2019, as bulldozers scraped away millions of tonnes of earth to clear the site for airport construction,
archaeologists, historians, and local people expressed their concerns. Natalia Majluf said, “This is a built landscape;
there are terraces and routes which were designed by the Incas…Putting an airport here would destroy it.” Cusco-
based anthropologist Pablo Del Valle said: “It seems ironic and in a way contradictory that here, just 20 minutes from
the Sacred Valley, the nucleus of the Inca culture, they want to build an airport – right on top of exactly what the
tourists have come here to see.” Mark Rice, author of Making Machu Picchu: The Politics of Tourism in Twentieth-
Century Peru said the new airport would do a “lot of damage to one of the key tourism offerings of Cusco, which is its
scenic beauty.” Some locals who rely upon tourism were wary of the airport plans. Other critics of the project said that
damages to the Inca ruins would be incalculable, and worried that construction of the airport would deplete the
watershed of Lake Piuray, which the city of Cusco depends upon for almost half of its water supply. The expectation of
airport construction had led to new houses and hotels being thrown up hurriedly in Chinchero in the expectation of a
tourism windfall [17].
The World Monuments Fund addressed the current Peruvian President, Francisco Sagasti, in February 2021, requesting
compliance with the recommendation made by Unesco in 2019 that a Heritage Impact Study (EIP) be conducted. In
January 2020, El Comercio accessed two Patrimonial Impact Studies (EIP) prepared on behalf of the Ministry of
Transport and Communications (MTC), which identified 39 negative impacts (out of a total of 60) on the Inca citadel
and the Andean Qápac Ñan road system; that is, it was determined that Chinchero Cusco International Airport (AICC)
would generate a 65% impact on world heritage. However, both documents were rejected after an evaluation by the
MINCUL (Ministry of Culture).
MINCUL stated that UNESCO's recommendations on carrying out the EIP are not binding. In addition, a veteran pilot of
the Peruvian Air Force, Bruno Papi, points out that the location of the airport complicates the arrival and departure of
international flights, which was recognized in 2019 by the same MTC. The destruction of 17 springs identified by Óscar
Paredes Pando, professor of anthropology at the San Antonio de Abad Cusco University (UNSAAC), would also affect
the water supply of the city of Cusco. An agricultural engineer and specialist in social water management, Marco
Zeisser Polatsik, considers that the EIA of the Chinchero Airport violates the Water Resources Law because it fails to
identify the uses of water, sources or users in the project's area of influence. Also, José Ángel Bueno Galdo, Emeritus
Dean of Geology at UNSAAC, warned about the risks of karstification and sinkholes in the Chinchero-Maras area.
In January 2021, the civil association Unión Ciudadana por la Defensa y Valor del Patrimonio Cultural y Medio
Ambiente based in Cusco, whose president is Mark Zeisser, filed two amparo lawsuits against the MTC, MINCUL and
the South Korean consortium Korea Airports Corporation ( and three Korean engineering companies) contracted for
the construction of the airport. One claim concerns the protection of historical heritage and the second concerns
water resources. The first demand was accepted by the judiciary. In reaction to this, the governor and different
regional, provincial, district authorities, political and social representatives such as the Bar Association of the Cusco
region and the population of the Sacred Valley, spoke out against the request for protection. The second amparo
claim was rejected and the Unión Ciudadana por la Defensa y Valor del Patrimonio Cultural y Medio Ambiente
appealed this decision. Incredibly, the new Minister of the Environment of the Sagasti government; spoke in favor of
the construction of the airport, claiming that "everything generates an impact from buying bread to breathing".
Basic Data
Name of conflict:
Chinchero Airport, Peru
Country:
Peru (/country/peru)
State or province:
Urubamba
Location of conflict:
Chinchero District
Accuracy of location
HIGH (Local level)
Source of Conflict
Type of conflict. 1st level:

Infrastructure and Built Environment
Type of conflict. 2nd level:

Tourism facilities (ski resorts, hotels, marinas)
Ports and airport projects
Land acquisition conflicts
Specific commodities:
Land (/commodity/land)
Tourism services (/commodity/tourism-services)
Project Details and Actors
Project details
In 1978 COPESCO - Plan Turístico y Cultural Perú-UNESCO (Peru-UNESCO Tourist and Cultural Plan) selected a plateau
of land in Chinchero for as the preferred site for a new airport.[18] . Groundworks preparing for construction of the
airport commenced in January 2019 and construction of a major international airport with a 4 kilometer runway is
scheduled for completion in 2023.
Chinchero Airport is anticipated to replace the existing Alejandro Velasco Astete Airport in Cusco, with a capacity for 5
million passengers, rising to up to 8 million passengers. In March 2014 Peru’s investment promotion agency
ProInversion confirmed that the project would require an initial USD538 million investment rising to USD658 million.
The 40-year construction and operation concession for Chinchero Airport was awarded to the Kuntur Wasi consortium
of Peru’s Andino Investment Holdings and Argentina’s Corporacion America in April 2014. Kuntur Wasi’s consortium
finance was approved by OSITRAN (Supervisory Board for Investment in Public Transport Infrastructure). The tender
for the supervision of construction and engineering studies was awarded to the Valle Sagrado consortium.
After the contract cancellation with Kuntur Wasi, the government announced that the construction of Chinchero
Airport would be financed by the state with a USD200 million investment, for Phase 1. USD36.3 million was allocated
for land acquisition [4]. The airport construction began in February 2019.
Project area:
350
Level of Investment for the conflictive project

530,000,000
Type of population
Rural
Affected Population:
500- 10000
Start of the conflict:

1978
Company names or state enterprises:

Kuntur Wasi (/company/kuntur-wasi) - Awarded contract to build Chinchero Airport in 2014, contract cancelled by government in
January 2018
Valle Sagrado Consortium (/company/valle-sagrado-consortium) - Awarded contract for supervision of engineering studies and
construction of Chinchero Airport in 2015
ProInversion (/company/proinversion) from Peru (/country-of-company/peru) - Reponsibility for contractual arrangements for
Chinchero airport including award of tender to Kuntur Wasi
Korea Airports Corporation (KAC) (/company/korea-airports-corporation) from Republic of Korea (/country-of-
company/republic-of-korea) - Technical Assistance in the Implementation of the Chinchero-Cusco International Airport, Peru
Relevant government actors:

Government of Peru
Ministry of Transport and Communications
Cusco regional government
OSITRAN - Supervisory Board for Investment in Public Transport Infrastructure
COPESCO - Plan Turístico y Cultural Perú-UNESCO, Peru-UNESCO Tourist and Cultural Plan -
https://www.plancopesconacional.gob.pe/index.php
International and Finance Institutions

UNESCO - World Heritage (/institution/unesco-world-heritage)
Environmental justice organizations (and other supporters) and their websites, if

available:
Confederación Nacional Agraria - https://www.cna.org.pe/
Unión Ciudadana por la Defensa y Valoración del Patrimonio Cultural y Medio Ambiente
Fondo Mundial de Monumentos
Conflict & Mobilization
Intensity
LOW (some local organising)
Reaction stage
PREVENTIVE resistance (precautionary phase)
Groups mobilizing:
Farmers
Indigenous groups or traditional communities
International ejos
Local ejos
Neighbours/citizens/communities
Women
Local scientists/professionals
Forms of mobilization:
Involvement of national and international NGOs
Official complaint letters and petitions
Street protest/marches
Arguments for the rights of mother nature
Appeals/recourse to economic valuation of the environment
Refusal of compensation
Impacts
Environmental Impacts
Visible: Loss of landscape/aesthetic degradation, Deforestation and loss of vegetation cover
Potential: Air pollution, Biodiversity loss (wildlife, agro-diversity), Food insecurity (crop damage), Global warming,
Noise pollution, Reduced ecological / hydrological connectivity, Desertification/Drought, Oil spills, Groundwater
pollution or depletion, Large-scale disturbance of hydro and geological systems
Health Impacts
Visible: Mental problems including stress, depression and suicide
Potential: Malnutrition, Other Health impacts
Other Health impacts

Illnesses caused by pollutants emitted by aircraft
Socio-economical Impacts
Visible: Displacement, Loss of livelihood, Loss of traditional knowledge/practices/cultures, Social problems
(alcoholism, prostitution, etc..), Specific impacts on women, Land dispossession, Loss of landscape/sense of place
Potential: Increase in Corruption/Co-optation of different actors, Violations of human rights, Other socio-economic
impacts
Other socio-economic impacts

Report in local newspaper of people refusing to sell their land for the airport receiving death threats [3]
Destruction of archaeological sites
Land speculation
Outcome
Project Status
Under construction
Conflict outcome / response:

Compensation
Corruption
Migration/displacement
Repression
Cancellation of construction contract awarded to Kuntur Wasi consortium and assumed by the government
Do you consider this an environmental justice success? Was environmental justice

served?:
No
Briefly explain:
Chinchero Airport has displaced people from three communities and triggered social division and unrest. Fertile
farmland has will be lost to the airport, weaving livelihoods are at risk and archaeological and cultural treasures will be
damaged.
Sources & Materials
References to published books, academic articles, movies or published documentaries

[8] Pablo Garcia, Ruins in the landscape: Tourism and the archaeological heritage of Chinchero, Journal of Material
Culture, April 9, 2017
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1359183517702932
[9] Andrea Delgado, iSumaqKawsay, Allin Kawsay: Conceptions of Well-Being among Quechua Female Vendors in the
Face of Change in Chinchero, Peru, Vanderbilt University, 11 May 2018
https://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-03022018-110904/unrestricted/Delgado_Andrea_MA-Thesis.pdf
[18] Mark Charles Rice, Selling Sacred Cities: Tourism, Region, and Nation in Cusco, Peru, May 2014, Stony Brook
University
https://ir.stonybrook.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11401/77729/Rice_grad.sunysb_0771E_11829.pdf?sequence=1
[1] Blessing or Curse? The Chinchero Airport, Cultural Survival, 13 February 2014
https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/blessing-or-curse-chinchero-airport
[2] Country Notes: Chinchero, the Airport in the Clouds, Peruvian Times,31 January 2013
http://www.peruviantimes.com/31/country-notes-chinchero-the-airport-in-the-clouds/17977/
[3] Cusco’s new international airport – a step too far?, escapetoperu.com, 16 May 2013
https://escapedtoperu.com/cuscos-new-international-airport-a-step-too-far/
[4] Chinchero Cusco International Airport, Centre for Aviation (CAPA)

https://centreforaviation.com/data/profiles/newairports/chinchero-cusco-international-airport
[5] Problema social complicaría aeropuerto en Chinchero, Diario Correo, 23 October 2014
https://diariocorreo.pe/politica/problema-social-complicaria-aeropuerto-en-chinchero-421337/
[6] Machu Picchu is getting an airport. Will it ruin the ruins?, THE STAR, 6 July 2014
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2014/07/06/machu_picchu_is_getting_an_airport_will_it_ruin_the_ruins.html
[7] Perú : CNA alerta sobre impactos de la construcción del aeropuerto internacional de Chinchero, Via Campesina, 6
January 2017
https://viacampesina.org/es/peru-cna-alerta-sobre-impactos-de-la-construccion-del-aeropuerto-internacional-de-
chinchero/
[10] Chinchero — Lost in the Clouds of Poor Engineering, Bad Finance, Peruvian Times, 26 January 2017
http://www.peruviantimes.com/26/chinchero-lost-in-the-clouds-of-poor-engineering-bad-finance/27805/
[11] 1000s of Peruvians Protest Machu Picchu Airport Construction, Telesur English, 1 February 2017
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/1000s-of-Peruvians-Protest-Machu-Picchu-Airport-Construction-20170201-
0060.html
[12] Chinchero Airport Enters in Doubt, cuzcoeats.com, 26 May 2017

http://cuzcoeats.com/chinchero-airport-enters-in-doubt/
[13] Chinchero Airport Fandango Slips on New Banana Skins as it Crumbles into Costly Confusion, Peruvian Times, 25
January 2018
http://www.peruviantimes.com/25/chinchero-airport-fandango-slips-on-new-banana-skins-as-it-crumbles-into-costly-
confusion/30387/
[14] Kuntur Wasi consortium says will sue Peru over airport contract, Reuters, 7 February 2018
https://www.reuters.com/article/peru-arbitration-andino-inv/kuntur-wasi-consortium-says-will-sue-peru-over-airport-
contract-idUSL2N1PX1HG
[15] Airport construction threatens unexplored archaeological sites in Peru, Science, 5 February 2019
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/02/airport-construction-threatens-unexplored-archaeological-sites-peru
[16] Salvemos Chinchero, patrimonio cultural de la humanidad, change.org,

https://www.change.org/p/presidente-de-la-rep%C3%BAblica-del-per%C3%BA-salvemos-chinchero-patrimonio-
cultural-de-la-humanidad
[17] It would destroy it': new international airport for Machu Picchu sparks outrage, The Guardian, 15 May 2019
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/may/15/archaeologists-outraged-over-plans-for-machu-picchu-airport-
chinchero
Related media links to videos, campaigns, social network

"Si hasta mi piel es color de la tierra, ¿cómo me voy a ir de esta casa?", Confederación Nacional Agraria CNA, 6 January
2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4QitfcoZY0
Meta information
Contributor:
Rose Bridger, Stay Grounded, email: mapping@stay-grounded.org, Raquel Reyra
Last update
17/05/2019
Conflict ID:
4026
Images
Chinchero Airport sign

Sign announcing preparation of land for Chinchero Airport. Source: tech2.org
Artist’s rendition
Artist’s rendition of Chinchero Airport. Source: The Moodie Report
Mountain view from Chinchero

View from Chinchero, looking out over the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Source: escapetoperu.com
Indigenous girl speaks out

Quechua indigenous girl Rocio Ccjuiro speaks out to demand protection of the cultural and natural heritage of
Chinchero. Source: Via Campesina
Ruins of an Incan estate

The ruins of an Incan royal estate in Chinchero. Source: Felix Lipov/Alamy Stock Photo
Chinchero farmland
The town of Chinchero is surrounded by farmland. Source: cuzcoeats.com
Protest against Chinchero Airport

Social unrest in 2014, banner translation - indigenous people will oppose Chinchero Airport if their rights are not
upheld. Source: diariocorreo.pe
Traditional weaving
Traditional weaving survives in Chinchero and is a hallmark of the town’s identity. Source: Cultural Survival
Chinchero Airport location

Map showing location of Chinchero Airport site. Source: ProInversion.gob.pe
Clearing construction site

Bulldozers clearing millions of tonnes of earth for construction of Chinchero Airport. Photo: Jorge De La Quintana.
Source. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/may/15/archaeologists-outraged-over-plans-for-
machu-picchu-airport-chinchero

Chinchero Airport, Peru - EJAtlas

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1/7/22, 09:41 Chinchero Airport, Peru | EJAtlas

Leaflet (https://leafletjs.com) | © OpenStreetMap (https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) contributors

Land acquisition divided communities

Type of conflict. 1st level:

Type of conflict. 2nd level:

Project Details and Actors

Level of Investment for the conflictive project

Start of the conflict:

Company names or state enterprises:

Relevant government actors:

International and Finance Institutions

Environmental justice organizations (and other supporters) and their websites, if

Conflict & Mobilization

Other Health impacts

Other socio-economic impacts

Conflict outcome / response:

Do you consider this an environmental justice success? Was environmental justice

Sources & Materials

References to published books, academic articles, movies or published documentaries

[4] Chinchero Cusco International Airport, Centre for Aviation (CAPA)

[12] Chinchero Airport Enters in Doubt, cuzcoeats.com, 26 May 2017

[16] Salvemos Chinchero, patrimonio cultural de la humanidad, change.org,

Related media links to videos, campaigns, social network

Chinchero Airport sign

Mountain view from Chinchero

Indigenous girl speaks out

Ruins of an Incan estate

Protest against Chinchero Airport

Chinchero Airport location

Clearing construction site

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