Silvio Pettirossi International Airport (ASU) — Airport Guide 2026

🏢 Terminal Layout and a Name That Changed Twice

The current passenger building opened on 20 March 1980. It is one terminal, divided into a south concourse (gates 1–4) and a north concourse (gates 5–6), with international and the handful of domestic services sharing the same airside. You can walk the full departures concourse in under five minutes. There is no inter-terminal transit because there is no second terminal — a second one has been on paper since plans were unveiled in February 2021, but as of 2026 the 1980 building is all you fly through.

The airport is named after Silvio Pettirossi (1887–1916), a Paraguayan stunt aviator who flew loop manoeuvres over Buenos Aires and Paris before dying in a crash at 29. Between 1980 and 1989 it was called Aeropuerto Internacional Presidente Stroessner, after Alfredo Stroessner, the dictator who ran Paraguay from 1954 to 1989. When the regime fell in 1989, the name reverted to Pettirossi, and that is the name on your boarding pass today. The original civilian terminal, inaugurated on 11 June 1938 near the runway 02 threshold, now belongs to the Paraguayan Air Force’s Grupo Aerotáctico rather than the travelling public.

Renovation of the north concourse wrapped up on 26 May 2023, and the arrivals hall was enlarged at the same time — useful, because the old arrivals area bottlenecked badly when two international flights landed within the same hour. That double-bank problem has not gone away entirely: immigration can clear in four minutes when you land alone, or stretch past 45 when a morning flight bank converges, because there are only so many booths in a terminal this size.

Cargo throughput was 23,158 tonnes in 2025.

🛂 Entry, Visas, and the Guaraní

Visa-Free Entry

For US, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand citizens, entry has been visa-free since 12 October 2021, when Paraguay dropped the earlier reciprocity-fee regime those nationalities previously paid under. That is over four years ago now, but older guidebooks still describe a US visa fee that no longer applies. EU member states, the UK, Switzerland, Norway, Japan, South Korea (30 days), Israel and most of South America are also visa-free for 90 days. Requirements: a passport valid for at least six months beyond entry and, in principle, proof of onward travel. The stay can be extended once for another 90 days through the Dirección General de Migraciones before the original permit expires.

Paraguay’s immigration service runs a free online pre-registration form — Pre-Registro Migratorio — at migraciones.gov.py. Fill in your details, receive a QR-coded certificate by email, present it at the control booth. It was designed primarily for the busy land crossings (Puerto Falcón, the Friendship Bridge at Ciudad del Este, the San Roque González bridge at Encarnación), and enforcement on the air route is inconsistent — it is a useful time-saver, not a hard requirement. Complete it 48 hours before arrival if you want to shave the queue, and verify your entry stamp shows the correct date and permitted stay before leaving the booth. Fixing a wrong stamp later is a Migraciones-office errand you do not want.

Yellow Fever — Conditional, Not Universal

The Guaraní

Paraguay’s currency is the guaraní (₲, PYG) — a high-denomination currency that has never been redenominated, so prices run into hundreds of thousands and millions. At 29 May 2026 the rate sits around ₲6,017 to the US dollar; across 2026 it has ranged roughly ₲6,000–6,850, averaging about ₲6,460. Notes run ₲2,000, ₲5,000, ₲10,000, ₲20,000, ₲50,000 and ₲100,000. The ₲100,000 note is worth about US$16, so a restaurant bill of ₲200,000 (roughly US$33) is ordinary.

There is no parallel black-market exchange rate here — Paraguay runs nothing like Argentina’s blue-dollar street economy. Official rates are what you transact at. Change money at a casa de cambio in town or withdraw from an ATM rather than chasing a street rate that does not meaningfully exist.

The airport currency desks give poor rates and are worth avoiding.

Other Entry Notes

No separate tourist arrival tax is paid at ASU — international departure taxes are bundled into ticket prices. The personal duty-free import allowance is US$1,000, reflecting Paraguay’s long role as the region’s low-tax shopping destination. Baggage carts in the terminal are free.

Paraguay is low-lying — Asunción sits near the Paraguay River at around 60 metres — so there is no altitude to acclimatise to. The practical health concern is the summer heat (December to February, routinely 38–40°C) and wet-season dengue. Insect repellent with DEET earns its place in your bag; altitude pills do not. Tap water in Asunción is generally treated, but most visitors drink bottled.

🚆 Getting into Asunción

The airport sits in Luque, about 16 km by road from the historic centre (~10 km straight-line). The drive takes 25 to 45 minutes off-peak; the Luque–Asunción morning and evening rush can double that. There is no train, no metro, no airport rail link — Asunción has no passenger rail.

Apps: Uber and Bolt

Both operate at ASU and across the city. The in-app price is fixed before you accept, which removes the negotiation that taxis require. Expect roughly ₲35,000–70,000 (about US$6–11.50) depending on destination — Villa Morra is nearer than the historic centre — and on surge. Off-peak Bolt fares to downtown have been reported under ₲40,000.

Official Taxis

The yellow airport taxis queue directly outside arrivals and require no app. Fares are zone-based: budget ₲105,000–150,000 (US$17–25) to the centre. A roughly 30% surcharge applies after 22:00 and on Sundays and holidays. Agree the price before the bags go in the boot. A taxi is the default for a late-night arrival when rideshare supply thins and the bus has stopped running.

City Bus Line 30

Line 30 connects the airport to the city; the downtown run takes roughly 50 minutes. A convencional (no air-conditioning) costs about ₲2,300; a diferencial with A/C runs around ₲3,400. Under 50 US cents against US$17+ for a taxi, but Asunción has shifted to electronic ticketing via rechargeable Jaha or Más cards (about ₲25,000 to buy, interchangeable across operators). Cash acceptance on the airport line is reported inconsistently, so load a card in advance if you plan to use the bus. The Jaha app offers live GPS route tracking. This option suits a light-packing traveller with time; it is not the call for a jet-lagged arrival hauling two suitcases.

Private Transfer

Pre-booked services run roughly US$30–50 with a named driver holding a sign. More than a taxi, but the fixed price and zero negotiation can be worth it after a long-haul arrival.

Transport Summary — Airport to Historic Centre

🛋️ Lounges

Two real options, both airside past passport control and security.

Sala VIP Gold sits between gates 3 and 4. It accepts Priority Pass and admits non-members on a pay-in basis. Before you settle in: a maximum three-hour stay, complimentary alcoholic drinks capped at two per adult (guests must be 21 or over), children under 6 free, and a dress code that bars sandals, shorts and vests — unusual for a regional South American airport.

Sala VIP Black, near gate 4, is pay-in from around US$36 per person. The choice when you lack a lounge card but want a power socket, a quiet seat and a plate of food away from the gate area.

There is no American Express Centurion Lounge, no Plaza Premium and no carrier-flagship lounge at ASU — the airport is too small and too low-volume to support them. A Priority Pass or DragonPass membership, or the US$36 walk-in rate, is your route into the best the airport offers.

A paid fast-track service through third-party concierge providers is available for arrivals and departures, and can be worth it on a tight connection during a peak-hour immigration crush — it is a bookable add-on rather than a lounge.

Because the whole airside takes under five minutes to cross and the lounge enforces a three-hour ceiling, these rooms work best for connections of two to four hours. On a genuinely long layover, leaving the airport is often a better use of time than sitting out the clock in a single room.

🍽️ Food Before You Fly

The terminal food and retail are concentrated: a handful of cafés and counters landside and airside, plus one duty-free room. Eat Paraguayan food in the city, where it costs a fraction and tastes better. Use the airport counters for a coffee and a top-up.

What to Eat

Paraguayan cuisine is corn-and-cassava heavy and genuinely distinctive. Chipa is the national snack — a ring of cheese bread made from mandioca (cassava) starch and aniseed, sold by street vendors and on long-distance buses for around ₲3,000–5,000 a piece in town. An airport café will charge several times that for a comparable item. Sopa paraguaya — despite the name, a dense savoury cornbread baked with cornmeal, cheese, onion, milk and egg — is the dish to order at any sit-down lunch. Chipa guazú is its corn-kernel cousin. Vorí vorí is a chicken broth thick with little cornmeal-and-cheese dumplings, proper cold-weather food. The national meat obsession is asado, Paraguayan grilled beef, simply seasoned.

To drink: the country runs on tereré, cold-brewed yerba mate steeped in iced water and herbs, sipped through a metal bombilla from a guampa and shared communally. You will see Asunceños carrying a thermos and a cup everywhere, all day.

Where to Eat in the City

Lido Bar, on Plaza de los Héroes opposite the Panteón Nacional, is a decades-old counter-service spot known for sopa paraguaya and caldo de pescado (fish soup). Bolsi, open since 1960 and running 24 hours in downtown Asunción, covers the standard repertoire — vorí vorí, sopa paraguaya, milanesas and bocaditos. For the lowest prices and widest range — mbeju, chipa guazú, soyo — Mercado 4, the city’s central market, has stalls cooking everything. The food is cheap and authentic; the hygiene is variable and it is a watch-your-bag environment. Go in daylight and stay alert.

Duty-Free

One room rather than a shopping mall. Paraguay’s identity as a low-tax regional market means electronics, spirits and perfume can be genuinely cheaper than at home — the US$1,000 personal import allowance exists because the country has long been where neighbouring markets come to shop. Compare a specific price before assuming the airport is automatically a deal; the bargains are real on some categories and ordinary on others.

💡 Day-Trips and Layover Realities

The Layover Calculation

Door to door, the airport-to-centre run is 25–45 minutes each way by car. Add a 60-minute return-leg airport buffer. You need roughly four hours of layover minimum for a city walk and five-plus to be comfortable. Below four hours, stay airside and use the lounge.

In the City (4–6 Hour Layover)

Asunción’s historic centre is compact and walkable. The Panteón Nacional de los Héroes, the small domed mausoleum on Plaza de los Héroes holding the remains of national figures, sits about seven blocks along Calle Palma from the centre. The Costanera promenade runs along the Paraguay River and fills with locals at sunset. Loma San Jerónimo, a painted hillside barrio of brightly coloured houses, is adjacent to the centre. The Palacio de los López, the presidential palace, anchors the waterfront. Two or three of these string together in two hours on the ground.

Half-Day (7-Hour-Plus Layover or Overnight)

Two lakeside towns east of Asunción are reachable with most of a day. Areguá, known for ceramics and strawberries on Lago Ypacaraí, is about 31 km from the city — roughly 45 minutes by car. San Bernardino, Paraguay’s summer-escape town on the same lake, is about 42 km and 50–60 minutes. Either works as a half-day escape on a genuinely long layover, but add the airport-to-city leg on top and the real round-trip pushes toward five or six hours.

Not Layover-Feasible

Itaipú Dam sits near Ciudad del Este, about 327 km east of Asunción — five to six hours of driving each way. It is an overnight trip at minimum.

The Jesuit Missions at Trinidad and Jesús de Tavarangué, the best-preserved Jesuit-reduction ruins in the country, are near Encarnación, about 370 km south. The bus alone runs around 6.5 hours each way. This is a two-or-three-day itinerary add-on, not a connection activity.

If a tour operator sells you an “Itaipú day-trip from your layover,” you will miss your flight.

Full Paraguay Itinerary Arc

If you are connecting through ASU to start a longer trip, the logical eastward arc runs: Asunción → the Ypacaraí lake towns (a day) → Encarnación and the Jesuit ruins (overnight; Trinidad’s evening light show is worth timing for) → Ciudad del Este and Itaipú (overnight) → out via the Friendship Bridge into Brazil if you are continuing to Iguazú. Trinidad’s ruins are about 30 km from Encarnación on Ruta 6 with hourly local buses, so a car is not required once you are down there.

🔧 Practicalities

WiFi and SIMs

The terminal has free WiFi on the Tigo network. Tigo and Personal both run kiosks selling tourist data packs for around US$10–15 for a few gigabytes. The kiosks can be shut for late-night arrivals; if you land after midnight, buy a SIM in town the next day. Paraguay’s mobile coverage is solid in Asunción and the eastern corridor; sparse in the Chaco.

Cash and Cards

Cards are widely accepted in Asunción restaurants and hotels. Carry guaraní cash for buses, market stalls, small cafés and taxis. Tipping: roughly 10% at a sit-down restaurant if service was good; ₲5,000–10,000 (under US$1.50) for a porter. Rounding up a taxi fare is appreciated but not expected.

Safety

Asunción is comparatively calm by Latin American capital standards. Petty theft is the live risk, not violent crime against visitors. Keep your bag close at Mercado 4 (daylight only) and in the micro-centre after dark when it empties. Use registered taxis or rideshare apps at night. Ciudad del Este, if your itinerary takes you east, is a high-commerce, higher-petty-theft zone — fine in daylight with normal caution, less so after dark.

The summer heat (38–40°C, December–February) and wet-season dengue are bigger practical concerns than crime. DEET repellent and hydration cover more ground than any other precaution.

Language

Spanish is universal. Paraguay is genuinely bilingual: Guaraní is co-official and spoken by most of the population, often mixed with Spanish into jopará. A few words of Spanish go a long way; mba’éichapa (how are you in Guaraní) lands well if you can manage it.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

📊 At a Glance — ASU 2026