Yes, you can smoke at Erbil International Airport (EBL) — an open-air smoking area outside the terminal entrance, landside, is available; the airport itself publishes no dedicated signage for it. No indoor or after-security smoking room is confirmed by an official source, and the one lounge lists none.
Erbil International is the main gateway to Iraq’s Kurdistan Region and the country’s third-busiest airport by passenger traffic.
Inside the Terminal
The terminal’s duty-free shops, currency exchange counters and departure gates are non-smoking, in line with Iraq’s Anti-Smoking Act No. 19 of 2012, which prohibits smoking in public places. The airport’s own website lists its passenger services — VIP handling, taxi transfers, money exchange, food and beverage outlets, duty-free shopping and a prayer room — without listing a smoking room or smoking area among them.
Newroz Business Class Lounge
The terminal’s one lounge, the Newroz Business Class Lounge, is listed by an independent lounge directory as a non-smoking facility. That rules out smoking even for the business-class and status passengers who can reach it. A single traveller account from March 2023, carried by a travel-guide site, describes a separate glass-walled smoking lounge past security, free to use and open to any passenger with a boarding pass — distinct from the Newroz lounge. No second or more recent source has corroborated it, so treat it as unconfirmed rather than plan around it.
Before Security
A travel-guide site lists an open-air smoking area outside the terminal entrance, on the same forecourt used for drop-off and pick-up, open to anyone without a boarding pass. The airport’s own site does not publish a designated-area map, so look for it near the main doors before you enter the building.
Vaping
Vapes are not an alternative either. The Kurdistan Regional Government maintains a strict ban on e-cigarettes across the region Erbil serves, on top of the airport having no documented vaping area of its own.
Summary
| Area | Smoking | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Indoor terminal | No | Non-smoking under Iraq’s Anti-Smoking Act No. 19 of 2012 |
| After security / lounge | No | Newroz Lounge listed non-smoking; one unconfirmed 2023 report of a separate room |
| Outdoor / landside | Yes | Open-air area outside the terminal entrance, per a travel-guide listing |
| Vaping | No | Kurdistan Region maintains a strict e-cigarette ban |
For Iraq’s airport smoking rules and vaping law, see our Iraq airport smoking guide.