Yes, you can smoke at Belgian airports: at Brussels Airport (BRU) in three smoking rooms after security, open 24 hours, at Gates A between A28 and A29, Gates B near B17 and B18 and Gates T between A65/T65 and A67/T67. Brussels South Charleroi (CRL) lists no smoking area on its pages or terminal maps, so smoke in the open air outside its two terminals and ask staff for the nearest spot. Belgian law bans smoking inside buildings open to the public, airports included, except in a separate smoking room, and applies the same bans to electronic cigarettes.
Belgium Airports Compared: Before and After Security
Before security, you can always smoke outside: at a designated smoking area where there is one, or outside the airport property, beyond the terminal kerb and car parks. After security, Yes means there is a smoking area past security and a dash means none is listed. Each airport’s page has the details.
| Airport | Before security | After security |
|---|---|---|
| Brussels (BRU) | Yes | Yes |
| Charleroi (CRL) | Yes | – |
For long-haul connections through Belgium, BRU is the airport that matters, as the Brussels Airlines hub with heavy intra-European traffic; Charleroi is the low-cost base an hour south of the city.
How Belgian Airport Smoking Works
The Act of 22 December 2009 bans smoking in enclosed places accessible to the public, and names airports among them (Articles 2 and 3). The operator of such a place may install a smoking room (fumoir): not a transit area, clearly marked, drinks only inside, no more than a quarter of the floor area, with smoke extraction or ventilation (Article 6, with the Royal Decree of 28 January 2010 on ventilation). The same bans apply to electronic cigarettes and herbal smoking products, and heated tobacco counts as a tobacco product. Fines run from €208 to €8,000. Since 31 December 2024 the Act also bans smoking in listed outdoor places such as amusement parks, zoos, playgrounds and sports grounds and within 10 metres of hospital, school and library entrances; airports and their forecourts are not on those lists, so an airport’s outdoor areas follow the airport’s own rules. Disposable e-cigarettes have been banned from sale since 1 January 2025. In practice:
- Brussels Airport (BRU): three smoking rooms after security, open 24 hours, at Gates A between A28 and A29 on the Topaz Platform, Gates B near B17 and B18, and Gates T between A65/T65 and A67/T67; smoking outside is allowed with no spot listed and the car parks excluded, so ask staff
- Brussels South Charleroi (CRL): no smoking area listed on its pages or maps; smoke in the open air outside Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 and ask staff for the nearest spot; the Terminal 1 upper-floor terrace by the food court carries no smoking mark, so ask staff whether smoking is allowed on it
- E-cigarettes follow the smoking bans everywhere; Brussels Airport applies its smoking rule to them, Charleroi publishes none
- Neither airport publishes a rule naming heated tobacco, so ask staff
The Hubs
Brussels Airport (BRU). The country’s main international airport, at Zaventem north-east of Brussels. Three smoking rooms after security, all open 24 hours: at Gates A between gates A28 and A29 on the Topaz Platform, at Gates B near gates B17 and B18, and at Gates T between gates A65/T65 and A67/T67, where the airport’s map gives each gate both an A and a T number. The airport also allows smoking outside, lists no outdoor spot and bans smoking in its car parks, so ask staff where. Smoking and vaping anywhere else in the terminal are banned.
Brussels South Charleroi (CRL). The low-cost base south of Brussels, with two terminals. The airport lists no smoking area on its pages or its terminal maps: smoke in the open air outside Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, away from the doors, and ask staff for the nearest spot. The Terminal 1 map shows a terrace on the upper floor by the food court, after security, without a smoking mark, so ask staff whether smoking is allowed on it; the Lounge in each terminal is a non-smoking area.
Antwerp (ANR), Ostend (OST). Smaller regional airports; both publish a smoking policy limited to a designated outdoor area landside, near the terminal entrance, with no airside smoking.
Liège (LGG). Primarily a cargo hub with limited passenger service; the airport lists no smoking area for passengers.
Tips for Smokers at Belgian Airports
- At Brussels Airport the three smoking rooms are after security and open 24 hours, so a transit smoke needs no exit; the Gates T room sits between gates that carry both an A and a T number
- At Charleroi, smoke in the open air outside the terminals before security and ask staff for the nearest spot; the airport lists no area after security, so ask staff whether smoking is allowed on the Terminal 1 upper-floor terrace
- Vape only in Brussels Airport’s three smoking rooms; at Charleroi, ask staff before vaping outdoors
- Neither airport publishes a rule for heated tobacco, so ask staff
- Disposable e-cigarettes are no longer sold in Belgium