Lobitos Airport

The closure was a direct consequence of political and economic changes in Peru. The airport was a private airstrip built and operated by the International Petroleum Company (IPC), which ran the oil fields in Lobitos. On October 9, 1968, the revolutionary government of General Juan Velasco Alvarado nationalized the IPC and expropriated its assets, creating the state-owned company Petroperú. With the state taking over, air logistics were consolidated at the larger, better-equipped FAP Captain Víctor Montes Arias International Airport (TYL) in the nearby city of Talara. This made the small, private Lobitos airstrip redundant and economically unviable for the new state-run entity to maintain.

The site of the former Lobitos Airport is completely abandoned and disused. Satellite imagery of the coordinates reveals the faint but clear outline of a degraded, unpaved runway in the coastal desert terrain. There are no remaining airport buildings, hangars, or any aviation infrastructure. The land is undeveloped, overgrown with sparse desert scrub, and is occasionally crossed by informal dirt tracks. It has no current function and has effectively reverted to open land.

Lobitos Airport was historically vital for the development and operation of the oil industry in northern Peru during the first half of the 20th century. It was an essential piece of infrastructure for the foreign-owned oil companies (initially the British Lobitos Oilfields Limited, later the American IPC). The airport served as a private connection to Lima and other locations, used to transport company executives, high-skilled workers, critical equipment, and mail. It supported the isolated, self-sufficient company town of Lobitos, which was built with distinct English architecture and amenities for its foreign staff. The airport primarily handled propeller-driven aircraft of the era, such as the Douglas DC-3, facilitating the management and logistical support of one of Peru's most important economic enclaves at the time.

There are no known official plans or realistic prospects for reopening Lobitos Airport. The primary reasons are the lack of economic need and the proximity of a superior alternative. The city of Talara, located just 17 km (10.5 miles) away, has a fully operational airport (FAP Captain Víctor Montes Arias International Airport, IATA: TYL) with a paved runway, instrument landing systems, and regular commercial flights. This airport adequately serves the region's oil industry and the growing tourism sector, including the surfers who flock to Lobitos. Rebuilding and certifying the abandoned Lobitos airstrip would be prohibitively expensive with no clear advantage over using the existing Talara airport.