Yes, Heraklion International Airport (Nikos Kazantzakis) (HER) has designated outdoor smoking areas, set just outside the terminal on both the departures and arrivals sides. Crete’s main gateway is a single-terminal, high-summer charter airport, and every sanctioned place to smoke is landside, in the open air, before you clear security.
Where to Smoke at Heraklion Airport
All smoking at HER happens outside the terminal building, at street level:
- Departures entrance — the main outdoor smoking area sits directly outside the departures doors, where most travellers light up before check-in and bag drop.
- Arrivals exit — a second area by the arrivals doors, near the taxi rank and bus stops, is the spot for a cigarette the moment you land and collect your bags.
- Forecourt and short-term car park — the open kerbside and the pavement by the short-term parking give extra room to spread out during the packed summer peak, when the compact terminal frontage fills quickly.
Signage is in Greek and English, and the areas are free to use. Cigarettes, roll-ups, vapes and heat-not-burn devices such as IQOS are all handled the same way — the same outdoor areas cover them all.
Smoking After Security (Airside)
Once you pass through security at Heraklion there is no smoking area of any kind — no ventilated lounge and no open-air terrace at the gates. The whole terminal interior, including the Filoxenia (Swissport) departures lounge on the first floor, is smoke-free.
If you need a cigarette after check-in, have it before you go through to the gates. Passengers connecting or in transit through HER must leave the terminal completely, smoke at the landside outdoor areas, and then re-clear security and passport control for their onward flight — so budget extra time in the summer months, when the screening queues run long.
New Kastelli Airport
A replacement airport at Kastelli, about 40 km southeast of the current site, is under construction and on track to open in 2027, after which the Nikos Kazantzakis terminal is expected to close. The smoking layout described here applies to the existing airport and may change once operations move.
| Area | Location | Smoking |
|---|---|---|
| Departures entrance | Landside, outside the terminal doors | Yes — outdoor |
| Arrivals exit | Landside, by the taxi rank and bus stops | Yes — outdoor |
| Forecourt / short-term car park | Landside kerbside | Yes — outdoor |
| Departure gates (airside) | After security | Smoke-free |
| Lounges and terminal interior | Indoor | Smoke-free |
Connecting through the capital instead? The smoking areas at Athens Airport (ATH) include ventilated indoor lounges after security, so you can smoke without leaving the secure zone there.
For Greece airport smoking rules, vaping rules, and other general info, see our Greece smoking guide.