Smoking at Buenos Aires Ezeiza — the country’s largest airport — is at the outdoor landside forecourt. Argentina bans indoor smoking in public places, so Ezeiza has no airside or indoor smoking. Vaping is treated as tobacco under Argentine law, so the same rule applies.
For international travel through Argentina, Buenos Aires Ezeiza (EZE) is the airport that matters.
How Argentine Airport Smoking Works
Argentina’s national tobacco law (Ley 26.687) bans smoking in all indoor public places, workplaces and transport, including airports:
- No indoor smoking and no airside smoking at Ezeiza
- Smoking is only outdoors on the landside curb/forecourt
- ANMAT Disposición 3226/2011 bans the sale and import of e-cigarettes — vaping is banned wherever smoking is
- No verified lounge smoking room exists (a claimed Centurion Lounge room is unconfirmed)
The Hub
Ministro Pistarini International Airport (EZE / Ezeiza). Buenos Aires’s main international gateway and the largest in Argentina — since April 2023 a single Departures Terminal handles all departures, with the former Terminal A and Terminal C serving international and domestic arrivals. There is no airside smoking facility and no indoor smoking room — the only sanctioned option is outdoors, in front of the terminals (landside). Connecting passengers must exit and re-clear security to smoke.
Other Argentina Airports
Argentina’s Ley 26.687 bans smoking in every enclosed public space nationwide. At each airport below, that law is why open-air smoking outside the terminal building, landside, is permitted; none publishes a designated area of its own, and no smoking facility after security is confirmed at any of them.
Buenos Aires Aeroparque (AEP). Jorge Newbery, the close-in riverside airport handling most of the country’s domestic and regional routes, permits the same landside, open-air smoking on its forecourt; the airside AMAE Lounge is non-smoking — see the Aeroparque smoking guide.
Córdoba (COR). Ingeniero Aeronáutico Ambrosio Taravella International is Argentina’s third-busiest airport, with roughly 2.9 million passengers a year (2017 figures). Open-air smoking landside, outside the terminal, is permitted there, with no airside or indoor facility confirmed — see the Córdoba Airport smoking guide for the AMAE Lounge location.
Bariloche (BRC). Teniente Luis Candelaria Airport, the gateway to the Lake District and Patagonia’s ski resorts, follows the same landside, open-air default — full detail in the Bariloche Airport smoking guide.
Mendoza (MDZ). Governor Francisco Gabrielli International (El Plumerillo), the wine-country gateway, has the same landside, open-air default — see the Mendoza Airport smoking guide.
Puerto Iguazú (IGR). Cataratas del Iguazú International, serving travellers heading to the Falls, follows the same landside, open-air default — details in the Iguazú Airport smoking guide.
Salta (SLA). Martín Miguel de Güemes International, the main air hub of the Argentine Andes and the busiest airport in northern Argentina, permits open-air smoking outside the terminal, landside, under Ley 26.687; no designated area is published and no facility after security is confirmed — see the Salta Airport smoking guide for the AMAE Lounge’s own listed facilities.
Ushuaia (USH). Malvinas Argentinas International, the world’s southernmost international airport and a gateway to Antarctic cruises, has the same landside permission under national law, with no designated area published and no facility after security confirmed — full detail, including the W Lounge’s own no-smoking listing, in the Ushuaia Airport smoking guide.
El Calafate (FTE). Comandante Armando Tola International, the gateway to the Perito Moreno Glacier, permits the same landside, open-air smoking under Ley 26.687, with no designated area published and no facility after security confirmed — see the El Calafate Airport smoking guide.
Tips for Smokers at Argentine Airports
- Ezeiza has no airside smoking — plan to smoke before security or accept a no-smoking layover
- The smoking areas are outdoors, on the curb/forecourt outside the terminals
- Don’t count on a lounge smoking room — none is confirmed at EZE, the AMAE Lounges at Aeroparque, Córdoba, Bariloche, Mendoza, Iguazú or Salta, or the W Lounges at El Calafate and Ushuaia (the Priority Pass listing for Ushuaia’s W Lounge explicitly bans smoking and vaping)
- Vaping is banned indoors and airside too — outdoor only
Argentina Airports Compared: Indoor, Outdoor & After Security
| Airport | After security | Indoor room | Outdoor area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aeroparque Jorge Newbery (AEP) | – | – | Yes |
| Smoking at Bariloche Airport – BRC | – | – | Yes |
| Ministro Pistarini International Airport (EZE) | – | – | Yes |
| Smoking at Córdoba Airport – COR | – | – | Yes |
| Smoking at El Calafate Airport – FTE | – | – | Yes |
| Smoking at Mendoza Airport – MDZ | – | – | Yes |
| Smoking at Puerto Iguazú Airport – IGR | – | – | Yes |
| Smoking at Salta Airport – SLA | – | – | Yes |
| Smoking at Ushuaia Airport – USH | – | – | Yes |