Flying from Lima to Cusco aboard Latam

Cusco airport Photo / Getty Images

Winston Aldworth flies Latam's flight LA2063, from Lima to Cusco.

The plane: An Airbus A320-200. Latam has 66 A320s in its fleet of 147 planes.

Class: There was only one category.

Airport experience: For domestic departures, Lima's airport is very much at the functional end of the scale.

Seat: 28K — a middle seat. This is something I’ve done well to avoid over the years, to a point where I’d come to assume that airlines simply didn’t put solo male travellers in middle seats between two strangers, because — y’know — Harvey Weinstein. I usually prefer an aisle seat, but on this flight you really want a window, preferably on the right.

How full: A couple of empty seats.

Fellow passengers: Loads of travellers heading into the Andes to experience Machu Picchu. I was with a group from G Adventures.

Time: In the air at 3.39pm, landed by 4.14pm.

Food and drink: The staff whizzed around, offering drinks to some people and not to others. Strange.

Service: Random drink dispersion aside, they were nice.

Toilets: Despite the short haul, there were quite a few people using the toilets. I figure that, like me, they were loading up on water to pre-empt altitude sickness.

Entertainment: Here's why you want that window seat. We flew alongside a long chain of towering mountains, steaming cloud poured over the peaks like waves meeting a wall. The jungle below was a dense mass of green. A stunning view.

Final word: A necessary hop on the way to Machu Picchu, boosted by those views.