The airport was conceived in 1960 to replace the old Limatambo International Airport, which was located in the San Isidro District, because it had been surrounded by new residential areas east of Lima. Without the modern facilities built later, the first international flight was carried out on 22 June 1960; and four months later, on 29 October 1960, President Manuel Prado Ugarteche inaugurated it with the name Lima International Airport. In June 1965, the Lima-Callao airport was renamed the "Aeropuerto Internacional Jorge Chávez" after the famous Peruvian aviator, Jorge Chávez Dartnell. In December 1965, the terminal building was officially opened by President Fernando Belaúnde after 11 months of reconstruction. The architects Carlos Arana, Antenor Orrego, Juan Torres, Miguel Bao and Luis Vásquez won the competition to design the terminal building. After 11 months of reconstruction, it was officially reopened on December 30, 1965, by President Fernando Belaúnde. It was considered in its time as one of the most modern airports in Latin America due to the advanced and award-winning architecture of the passenger terminal. The airport did not receive any major changes to its infrastructure for the next 35 years, except for isolated remodeling and expansions in different sectors of the terminal. By decision of the Government of Peru, in 2001, it was awarded a concession to the company Lima Airport Partners (LAP), a German-American consortium of Fraport, with the purpose of undertaking its expansion and comprehensive remodeling. As part of the process, the Peruvian congressional commission held talks with LAP. These conversations resulted in an agreement in which LAP committed to remodeling the airport facilities.The air traffic control is managed by the Peruvian Corporation of Airports and Commercial Aviation (CORPAC). The Peruvian government engaged Jaime Malagón, Jerome Jakubik, Paul Slocomb, and Víctor M. Marroquín of Baker and McKenzie international law firm, to oversee the changes. In February 2005, the first phase of remodeling of the terminal was completed, which included the total renovation of the existing infrastructure, the construction of the Peru Plaza Shopping Center and the new concourse with 18 boarding gates, 7 of which have boarding bridges. In June 2007, a four-star hotel, Ramada Costa del Sol, opened at the airport, whose building is directly connected to the passenger terminal by an elevated pedestrian bridge. In January 2009, the second phase of the terminal expansion was commenced. The terminal has 28 gates, 19 with boarding bridges. In August 2009, the LAP announced that in 2010, the airport would have a new category III instrument landing system to help with landing in foggy conditions. Arquitectonica, a Miami-based architectural office, and Lima Airport Partners planned a second terminal and expansion of the main terminal. On 24 October 2018, the Peruvian state delivered all the land for the expansion and modernization of the Jorge Chavez airport to the airport operator "Lima Airport Partners". The estimated investment of US $1.2 billion includes the construction of a new runway, a control tower and a passenger terminal in addition to the existing one. On the other hand, the state will build a new bridge and highway on the current Santa Rosa Avenue that will connect directly with the "Costa Verde" highway, benefiting a lot of tourists and entrepreneurs who are only going to visit Miraflores and the south. Works was to be completed in four years, by the beginning of the year 2023, and will allow the transit of 40 million passengers per year by 2030, an increase from the current 30 million passengers. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, work was delayed but continued in 2021. The new terminal was expected to be completed on 30 March 2025, but was soon delayed numerous times due to defects in the terminal, temporary bridges, and that the airport did not receive its operators certificate yet.