International Protests Mount As Peru Moves Ahead With New Airport Near Machu Picchu
June 11, 2019 6:06 PM ET
VANESSA ROMO
Tourists visit the Machu Picchu complex, the Inca fortress in the southeastern Andes of Peru in April. The government hopes a new airport will attract more tourists to the ancient site. That draws opposition from conservationists.
Pablo Porciuncula Brune /AFP/Getty Images
After decades of deliberation and planning, the Peruvian government has broken ground on a multibillion-dollar airport expected to connect Machu Picchu, the country's historical jewel, more easily with the outside world. But conservationists are outraged over the potential impact of a massive, state-of-the-art international facility on the ancient site and surrounding rural communities.
The Inca marvel, designated as a World Heritage site by UNESCO, was built in the 15th century in the misty peaks of the Peruvian Andes. On average, about 1 million people a year visit to take in the mountaintop citadel, which remains challenging to reach. Replacing the outdated airport in Cuzco, about 75 miles from Machu Picchu, would change that by allowing direct international flights into the heart of Peru's tourism industry.
Construction on the controversial Chinchero International Airport began earlier this year. Bulldozers are clearing the site at the mouth of the Sacred Valley to make way for a gleaming new structure that is expected to become the nation's second-largest and most modern hub, accommodating more than 7 million passengers per year.
Abel Traslaviña, a Peruvian archaeologist and Ph.D. student in Vanderbilt University's Department of Anthropology, says the airport poses an irreversible threat to the already fragile ruins and surrounding areas.
More:
https://www.npr.org/2019/06/11/731798477/international-protests-mount-as-peru-moves-ahead-with-new-airport-near-machu-pic
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