Yes, you can smoke at Rodríguez Ballón International Airport (AQP) — Arequipa’s airport. Open-air smoking outside the terminal building, landside, is permitted; the airport publishes no designated area; no smoking facility after security is confirmed. The terminal interior is smoke-free.
Rodríguez Ballón is the gateway to Peru’s “Ciudad Blanca” and, by its own operator’s count, the country’s third-busiest passenger terminal after Lima and Cusco, sitting at roughly 2,600 m (8,400 ft) above sea level. A single terminal handles both domestic and international departures. If you smoke, plan to do so outside the building before you check in.
Where to Smoke
Open-air smoking outside the terminal building, landside, is permitted; the airport publishes no designated area; no smoking facility after security is confirmed. Step outside before you check in — once you pass security, there is nowhere to smoke until you land.
- The same landside-only rule applies at both departures and arrivals — AQP is a single terminal with no separate airside option.
- The terminal opens early and closes late (04:45–22:00 daily, per the operator’s own site), so smokers on the first or last flights of the day still need to smoke landside before the checkpoint.
Inside the Terminal and After Security
There are no indoor smoking rooms anywhere in the terminal, and no smoking facility after security is confirmed. Peruvian law makes enclosed public spaces 100% smoke-free.
Arequipa’s airport operates a paid lounge, Andes Salón VIP, reachable with a qualifying membership card or by paying at the door; its own amenities list (wifi, snacks, hot and cold drinks) does not include a smoking area, so lounge access does not change where you can smoke.
Connecting passengers must exit the terminal to smoke landside in the open air, then re-clear security for their onward flight — factor the queue time into a short connection.
Vaping
Peru’s Ley 32159, published 12 November 2024, bans smoking and vaping together — Article 6.1 prohibits “fumar o vapear” in enclosed public spaces, workplaces and public transport. E-cigarettes are treated the same as cigarettes at AQP: vape in the open air outside the terminal, landside; no vaping facility after security is confirmed.
Travellers connecting through Lima Jorge Chávez Airport on the way to or from Arequipa face the same open-air, landside-only rule there too.
Summary
| Area | Smoking | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Indoor (terminal) | No | Enclosed smoking barred by Peruvian law |
| After security / airside | No | No smoking facility after security is confirmed |
| Outdoor (landside) | Yes | Open-air smoking permitted; no designated area published |
| Vaping | Outdoor only | Banned indoors and airside under Ley 32159 |
For Peru’s airport smoking rules and vaping law, see our Peru airport guide.