--- title: "Smoking at Addis Ababa Bole Airport – ADD" canonical: "https://www.airportsmokingzones.com/ethiopia/add-smoking-at-addis-ababa-bole-airport/" language: "en-us" description: "Yes — Addis Ababa Bole (ADD) has indoor smoking rooms after security in Terminal 2 departures and inside the Plaza Premium, Cloud Nine and Sheba Silver lounges." lastmod: "2026-09-26T00:00:00Z" --- # Smoking at Addis Ababa Bole Airport – ADD Yes — **Addis Ababa Bole International Airport (ADD)** has designated indoor smoking rooms after security, located in the Terminal 2 international transit/departures area and inside several lounges, so you can smoke airside during a long Ethiopian Airlines layover without leaving the secure zone. Bole is one of Africa’s largest connecting hubs and the main base of Ethiopian Airlines, so it handles huge volumes of connecting passengers on multi-hour transits — exactly the travellers who need to know where the indoor rooms are. ## Terminal 2 Smoking Areas (International Departures) Terminal 2 handles all international flights, and every airside smoking option at Bole sits inside it. - **Public airside smoking room — A-gate corridor.** Travellers place it near **Gates A11–A12**, around the corner from the prayer rooms. It is easiest to find when walking from the C gates toward the lower-numbered A gates; signage in the other direction is weak. Bole’s terminal expansion is ongoing, so treat the gate number as approximate and ask any staff member for the smoking room if it is not where described. - **Lounge smoking rooms** are the more comfortable alternative — see the lounge section below for locations and access. - Terminal 2 spans the A, B and C gates; if you are waiting at a B or C gate, allow 10–15 minutes to walk to the A-gate smoking room and back. ## Smoking During a Transit or Layover Ethiopian Airlines banks hundreds of connections through Bole in the early morning and evening, and transit passengers stay airside in Terminal 2 the whole time. - Connecting passengers pass a **transit re-screening** before the gates, and **lighters are frequently confiscated** there. Do not count on keeping your own flame — the smoking rooms have lighting facilities, and the lounge rooms are supervised. - On a long 8–24 hour layover, the airside rooms remain the realistic option; exiting to smoke outdoors means clearing immigration and then re-entering through full security. - The public room is free; the **Plaza Premium Lounge** (24 hours, lounge-membership card or paid walk-in) is the easiest paid upgrade with its own smoking area if you want a quieter spot on an overnight transit. ## Lounge Smoking Rooms in Terminal 2 - **Plaza Premium Lounge** — Level 2, immediately after passport control, open 24 hours. Entry via lounge-membership programmes, selected cards or paid walk-in, with a smoking area among its amenities. - **Ethiopian Airlines Cloud Nine Lounge** — opposite **Gate A13** on the departure level, open 24 hours, for business-class and eligible Star Alliance passengers. It has a small designated smoking room. - **Sheba Silver Lounge** (opened 2024\) — in the Terminal 2 departure-hall corridor, for ShebaMiles Silver members, open roughly 5 a.m. to midnight, with a designated smoking room. - Ethiopian Airlines’ lounge rules allow smoking only in these designated rooms and **explicitly ban e-cigarettes even inside them**. ## Terminal 1 and Landside Smoking Terminal 1 handles domestic and regional flights and has no designated indoor smoking room. Domestic travellers should smoke **outdoors, landside, before security** — outside the terminal entrances — and finish before check-in. The two terminals are linked landside by a free shuttle, so a landside cigarette between a domestic arrival and an international check-in at Terminal 2 is straightforward. ## Vaping **IMPORTANT:** e-cigarettes, vapes and heated-tobacco products are **illegal nationwide in Ethiopia**. Import, sale and use are all prohibited under the country’s 2019 food and medicine proclamation. Ethiopian Airlines’ lounge rules also explicitly ban e-cigarettes even inside the designated smoking areas. Do not bring vapes into Ethiopia. ## Summary | Area | Smoking | Notes | | --- | --- | --- | | Indoor smoking room, T2 airside | Yes | A-gate corridor, near Gates A11–A12 | | Lounge smoking rooms | Yes | Plaza Premium, Cloud Nine (opposite A13), Sheba Silver | | Terminal 1 (domestic) | No | Smoke outdoors landside before security | | Outdoor airside | No | Landside only, before security | | Vaping | No | Illegal nationwide | For Ethiopia’s airport smoking rules and the vape ban, see our [Ethiopia airport guide](https://www.airportsmokingzones.com/ethiopia/). ## Useful Links [Ethiopian Airlines Group, operator of Addis Ababa Bole International Airport (official)](https://www.ethiopianairlines.com) ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Can you smoke at Addis Ababa Bole Airport after security? Yes. There are designated indoor smoking rooms after security in the Terminal 2 international departures/transit area and inside several lounges, so you can smoke without leaving the airside zone during a layover. ### Where is the public smoking room at Bole Airport? In Terminal 2 international departures, in the A-gate corridor near Gates A11–A12, around the corner from the prayer rooms, where travellers describe a public airside smoking room. It is easiest to spot walking from the C gates toward the lower-numbered A gates. Signage is inconsistent, so ask staff if you cannot find it. ### Which lounges at Addis Ababa Bole have smoking rooms? The Plaza Premium Lounge (Terminal 2, Level 2 just after passport control, open 24 hours, lounge-membership card or paid entry), the Ethiopian Airlines Cloud Nine business lounge opposite Gate A13 (24 hours), and the Sheba Silver Lounge in the Terminal 2 departure hall (opened 2024, roughly 5 a.m. to midnight) all have designated smoking rooms. ### Where can I smoke during an Ethiopian Airlines layover at Bole? Stay airside and use the indoor rooms — the public smoking room near Gates A11–A12 in Terminal 2 is open to all passengers, and the lounge smoking rooms are available with Cloud Nine, Star Alliance or lounge-membership access. Leaving the transit zone to smoke outdoors is not practical on a connection. ### Is vaping allowed at Addis Ababa Bole Airport? Use the designated cigarette smoking rooms instead — e-cigarettes, vapes and heated-tobacco products are illegal nationwide in Ethiopia, and Ethiopian Airlines bans them even inside the lounge smoking rooms, so leave the vape at home. ### Can you smoke outside at Bole Airport during a layover? Use the indoor airside rooms in Terminal 2 during a layover — outdoor smoking is landside only, before security, and transit passengers cannot reach it without exiting the secure zone. Lighters are often confiscated at the transit re-screening, so plan on the lighting facilities at the rooms.