Fewer Airports Allow Smoking

June 10, 2012— -- Want to light up a cigarette before or after your next flight? Good luck with that.

According to the American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation, indoor smoking is completely banned at 27 of the 35 busiest U.S. airports.

Soon it will be 28. Well, make that 27 and 3/4.

Denver International Airport, currently the only public building in Colorado where indoor smoking lounges are still legal, is on its way to becoming smoke-free.

At a May 18th airport press conference, Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock announced that lease-holders for three of the four smoking lounges at Denver airport have agreed to shutter those lounges by the end of this year and remodel or replace them with non-smoking concessions.

The Aviators' Lounge in the Jeppesen Terminal will become a branch of Jamba Juice; the lounge on the B Concourse will become a barbecue restaurant called the Aviator's Sports Bar; and the Mesa Verde Restaurant and Bar on the A Concourse will be remodeled, removing its smoking area.

The fourth lounge, inside Timberline Steaks & Grill on Concourse C, will not shut down until after its lease expires in 2018, but Hancock said his goal "is to get it to shut down sooner than later," so that Denver Airport can "join the ranks of Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport, San Francisco International Airport and many other major U.S. airports who have eliminated smoking in the past few years."

While Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights (ANR) issued a statement applauding Denver's mayor, the airport and "the owners of the smoke-filled businesses who are supporting this transition to a smoke-free future," the response on the airport's Facebook page has been mixed, with several critical comments among those voices applauding the decision.

Via e-mail, M. James of Denver speaks out for smoking travelers: "I just think this anti-smoking has gotten too far. There are tons of restaurants where people can eat without smoke. At least one smoking area at DIA should be open for the smokers who have a layover or a delayed plane."

James mourned the demise of Denver Airport's smoking lounges, but expressed appreciation for those at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, which are located throughout the airport and include a new one (on the Concourse F mezzanine level) in the recently opened international terminal complex.

In addition to Atlanta, smokers can still find an indoor place to light up at Dulles International Airport and at airports in Tampa, Memphis, Salt Lake City and several other cities. Some of these smoking areas are simply small, ventilated spaces; others are inside a restaurant or bar that may require a minimum purchase.

At Memphis International Airport, for example, the smoking area is inside the post-security Blue Note Café; at Tampa International Airport, there's an outdoor smoking patio at the Landside Terminal and caged, outdoor smoking patios at Airsides A, C, E and F.

In Las Vegas, McCarran International Airport currently has two indoor spots where passengers may smoke: the pre-security Budweiser Racing Track Lounge and an enclosed casino gaming lounge at the D Concourse, near Gate D-46.