Yes, you can smoke airside at Baghdad International Airport (BGW) — travellers describe smoking rooms inside the Ishtar VIP Lounge and the Baghdad Lounge, both past security and open to lounge guests. The public departure concourses themselves are smoke-free, so lounge access is the key to lighting up after security.
Baghdad International Airport is Iraqi Airways’ main hub and the country’s principal international gateway. Commercial flights operate as of mid-2026; service can be disrupted at short notice, so confirm your departure and build in extra time before settling in.
Inside the Terminal: Nineveh, Babylon & Samarra Concourses
The passenger terminal is built as three interlinked concourses named after ancient cities — Nineveh, Babylon and Samarra — with a separate VIP terminal for official delegations. The open gate areas across all three concourses are non-smoking. Travellers describe smoking only in the airside lounges, not in any public terminal space, so you will not find a walk-up smoking area on the concourse floor.
Airside Lounge Smoking Rooms
Travellers describe an indoor smoking room after security in two lounges:
- Ishtar VIP Lounge (the Iraqi Airways First Class Lounge) — travellers describe an airside smoking room.
- Baghdad Lounge — sitting in the centre of the terminal past passport control and open 24 hours; travellers describe a smoking room there.
Neither room appears on the airport’s own website, so confirm it on arrival. Access to either room needs lounge entry — a qualifying first or business ticket, a lounge card, or a paid walk-in — which means the smoking rooms are not public areas you can use elsewhere in the concourses. Travellers describe no smoking room in two further lounges, the Ahlein Premium Lounge (boarding level, between the Babylon and Nineveh concourses) and the Iraqi Lounge (Level 1, by Gate 3).
Iraqi law permits designated indoor smoking areas under Directive No. 1 of 2014, which is consistent with a lounge operating such a room; the 2012 tobacco law otherwise keeps indoor public spaces smoke-free.
Landside & Before Security
Plan your last cigarette before you enter the building if you are not heading for a lounge — the airport lists no designated outdoor smoking area at the terminal forecourt or the car-park approaches.
Vaping
Vaping has no clear legal status in Iraq, so keep any device packed and out of sight in the terminal at Baghdad Airport. The Kurdistan Region bans vape import and sale outright, so keep devices packed if your route touches the north. For the national vaping law, see our Iraq airport smoking guide.
Summary
| Area | Smoking Allowed |
|---|---|
| After security (airside) | Yes – smoking rooms travellers describe inside the Ishtar VIP Lounge and the Baghdad Lounge (lounge access only) |
| Indoor terminal (public concourses) | – |
| Outdoor before security | – |
For Iraq’s airport smoking rules and vaping law, see our Iraq airport smoking guide.