Yes, you can smoke at Kuching International Airport (KCH) — at designated outdoor areas outside the terminal, landside. The former airside smoking room has closed, so the terminal is smoke-free; smoke before you go through security.
Kuching International Airport is the main gateway to Sarawak and the busiest airport in Malaysian Borneo, handling around five million passengers a year across domestic routes to Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah plus regional international flights. It runs from a single passenger terminal, so wherever you are flying, the smoking arrangement is the same: light up outdoors, landside, before you check in and clear security.
Smoking Areas Outside the Terminal
Smoking at KCH is outdoors only, landside, at the designated areas outside the terminal building. Step outside, keep clear of the doorways, and look for the marked smoking spots set back from the entrance. Under Malaysia’s Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024, the ground within a few metres of the terminal building counts as part of the no-smoking area, so the sanctioned spots sit back from the doors rather than immediately outside them.
Enforcement at KCH is active: health officers have run anti-smoking operations in and around the terminal, and lighting up in a no-smoking zone is penalised. Stick to the designated outdoor areas and you will stay clear of any trouble.
After Security — International and Domestic Departures
There is no smoking area after security at Kuching. The Ministry of Health ordered the airport’s airside smoking room closed — part of a wider shutdown of smoking rooms at airports across Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan — and it has not reopened. Both the international and domestic departure areas are entirely smoke-free once you are past the security checkpoint.
Transit and departing passengers who want to smoke need to do so before security. If you have already gone through, the only way to reach an outdoor smoking area is to exit the terminal and then re-clear security, so plan your last cigarette for before check-in.
Vaping
Vaping is treated the same as smoking at KCH. E-cigarettes and heated-tobacco devices are not allowed inside the terminal, so use the outdoor areas outside the building for both cigarettes and vapes.
Summary
| Area | Smoking | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Indoor terminal | No | Not permitted anywhere inside |
| After security / airside | No | Former smoking room closed by the Ministry of Health |
| Outdoor (landside) | Yes | Designated areas outside the terminal, back from the entrances |
For Malaysia’s airport smoking rules and vaping law, see our Malaysia airport guide.