Yes, you can smoke at Seymour Airport (GPS), the Galápagos gateway on Baltra Island. Open-air smoking outside the terminal building, landside, is permitted; the airport publishes no designated area and lists no smoking facility after security. A paid Departure VIP Lounge separately has a smoking area of its own. The general terminal and gates are smoke-free.
GPS is known as the Galápagos Ecological Airport — the world’s first LEED Gold-certified, carbon-neutral terminal, built from recycled steel on Baltra, a small island reached only by flight from Quito or Guayaquil. Operator ECOGAL runs the single small terminal.
Where to Smoke
Open-air smoking outside the terminal building, landside, is permitted; the airport’s own site publishes no designated area. Travellers described one directly in front of the terminal building in July 2023, plus a nearby café with outdoor seating where smoking was tolerated. The airport lists no smoking facility after security. Ecuadorian law bans smoking indoors, not in the open air, so step outside before you check in.
Passengers using the Departure VIP Lounge have a second option — see below.
The Paid Departure VIP Lounge
GPS has two paid lounges: an Arrival VIP Lounge for passengers just off the plane, and a separate Departure VIP Lounge. The Departure lounge has a smoking area; the Arrival lounge has none. Travellers described a covered smoking area in the lounge in February 2024, available to passengers on Ecuador’s domestic routes (GPS has no international flights). Its position relative to the security checkpoint is not published, and travellers described no smoking room or terrace past the checkpoint in July 2023, so treat the Departure lounge’s smoking area as a separate, paid option rather than an airside facility.
Vaping
GPS publishes no separate rule for e-cigarettes, and Ecuador’s base tobacco law (the Organic Law for the Regulation and Control of Tobacco) does not name them either. Vape the same way as smoking: in the open air outside the terminal, landside.
Most travellers reach GPS by connecting through Quito’s Mariscal Sucre Airport, which has the same open-air, landside-only rule.
Summary
| Area | Smoking | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Indoor (general terminal) | No | Enclosed public spaces are smoke-free under Ecuadorian law |
| After security / airside | No | None listed |
| Outdoor (landside) | Yes | Open-air smoking permitted; no designated area published |
| Paid Departure VIP Lounge | Yes | Has its own smoking area; position relative to security not published |
| Vaping | Same as smoking | No separate rule published; use the same open-air spot |
For Ecuador’s airport smoking rules and vaping law, see our Ecuador airport guide.