Noida International Airport (DXN) at Jewar in Uttar Pradesh was inaugurated on March 28, 2026, becoming North India’s second major international airport after Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (DEL). The airport is positioned to relieve growing pressure on DEL — which has handled record passenger volumes since 2024 — and to serve the rapidly expanding NCR (National Capital Region) population east of Delhi.
For travelers transiting through India’s busiest air corridor, DXN adds a meaningful new option. For smokers, it raises the same question that NMI’s December 2025 launch did: where can you smoke at this brand-new major airport?
Update: Commercial flights began on 15 June 2026 — the first service arrived from Lucknow with IndiGo as the launch carrier, starting with limited daytime domestic operations. See our Noida (DXN) airport smoking guide for the confirmed landside smoking zones.
DXN’s Position in India’s Airport Network
DXN is one of the largest greenfield airport programmes in Indian aviation, with later phases planned to make it the largest airport in Asia by area. It is being developed by Yamuna International Airport Private Limited (YIAPL), a subsidiary of Zurich Airport International, under a public-private partnership with the Uttar Pradesh government.
Phase 1, inaugurated this March, includes a single runway and a domestic terminal with an annual capacity of 12 million passengers. International operations are scheduled to expand progressively over the coming years, with the master plan envisioning multiple terminals and runways once fully built out.
What We Know About Smoking Facilities
As is typical for new Indian airports, DXN is expected to follow the COTPA 2003 framework, which permits airports to provide enclosed, ventilated indoor smoking rooms. What is established so far:
- Kerbside smoking is permitted at the departures and arrivals frontages, following standard Indian airport practice — look for the smoking pictogram and ash bins along the curb.
- Airside smoking cabins have not been published. The operator has not documented post-security smoking rooms at DXN, and no gate-level locations have been confirmed, so the terminal’s airside provision remains an open question rather than a stated fact.
- The multi-level car park follows the usual “no smoking inside” rule — step outside the structure.
Until the operator publishes locations or traveler reports confirm specific gate numbers and floor locations, the most reliable approach is to ask airline ground staff or the airport information desk on arrival.
Comparison with Delhi (DEL) and Mumbai’s NMI
Delhi Indira Gandhi International (DEL) has enclosed smoking rooms after security in all three terminals — the most extensive smoking infrastructure of any Indian airport, with 10+ rooms in T3 alone spread through the departure and transit areas.
Navi Mumbai International (NMI), which began commercial flights in December 2025, has gone further: its operator now documents smoking lounges after both the domestic and the international security checkpoints, plus Level 3 CIP lounges and landside rooms at arrivals.
DXN is positioned to handle overflow from DEL — particularly low-cost carrier traffic and eventually long-haul routes that DEL T1/T2/T3 cannot absorb. For smokers, this means DXN may be a less crowded alternative for layovers between Asia and Europe via India in the medium term.
The Vape Warning
A reminder that applies at every Indian airport, including DXN: vapes and e-cigarettes are illegal in India under the 2019 Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act (PECA). Possession, sale, manufacture, and import are all banned, and the penalty tiers are set out on our India country guide.
Travelers — including those just transiting India on connections — should not bring vape devices or IQOS-style heat-not-burn products. Customs at DXN, as at all Indian airports, can confiscate them and levy fines.
Updates Coming
We’re verifying DXN’s smoking facilities directly through traveler photos and reports. The DXN airport page will be updated as exact indoor smoking room locations are confirmed. If you’ve recently flown through DXN, please share via the Contribute form on the airport page itself.
For broader context on Indian airport smoking policy across nearly 60 airports, see the India country guide.
Update (September 2026): DXN has grown into a real domestic network. The airport’s official destinations page now lists 16 Indian cities — Amritsar, Bareilly, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Dharamshala, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Jodhpur, Kishangarh, Lucknow, Mumbai, Pantnagar and Srinagar — under the heading “Discover onward connections across India”, and lists no international destination. Our Noida (DXN) airport smoking guide carries the current smoking-area picture and is updated as the operator publishes terminal facilities.