Portugal is an easy country for smokers who fly. Lisbon (LIS) keeps enclosed indoor smoking rooms after security in Terminal 1, Faro (FAO) has an indoor room airside in its Gates B zone, Madeira (FNC) has an open-air terrace airside, and every Portuguese airport has outdoor areas landside where Portuguese law permits smoking in the open air. There is a specific legal reason the indoor rooms survive: the country’s 2024 tobacco law phases out indoor smoking rooms in most venues by 2030 and explicitly exempts airports and long-distance transport hubs.
For international travel through Portugal, Lisbon is the airport that matters — the enclosed smoking rooms after security at Lisbon Airport (LIS) are the country’s most extensive. On the Algarve, Faro Airport (FAO) has a traveller-reported indoor smoking room airside in its Non-Schengen Gates B zone, and in the north Porto Airport (OPO) keeps smoking outdoors on the landside forecourt. In the Atlantic islands, Madeira Airport (FNC) has an open-air smoking terrace after security, and Ponta Delgada Airport (PDL) in the Azores has a confirmed outdoor area landside plus a single, unconfirmed traveller report of an airside lounge.
How Portuguese Airport Smoking Works
Portugal’s tobacco law carves out an airport exception to its indoor-smoking restrictions:
- Airports are exempt from the indoor-smoking-room ban that closes most other venues’ rooms by 2030
- Lisbon keeps enclosed indoor smoking rooms after security in Terminal 1; Faro has one traveller-reported room airside in the Gates B (Non-Schengen) zone; Madeira has a confirmed open-air terrace airside; Ponta Delgada’s airside lounge rests on a single, unconfirmed traveller report
- E-cigarettes are regulated like tobacco — vaping is confined to the same areas as smoking (Lisbon has a vape area near Gate 47 that closes around 8 pm)
- Landside, smoking is allowed outdoors outside the terminals, where Portuguese law permits smoking in the open air
The Hub
Lisbon Airport (LIS / Humberto Delgado). Portugal’s main gateway and TAP Air Portugal’s hub, close to the city centre. Terminal 1 has after-security smoking rooms that travellers place near Gates S19–S21 (regular cigarettes) and N45–N47, plus a smoking room in the ANA Lounge (Floor 1, paid access). A separate e-cigarette area sits near Gate 47. Terminal 2, the low-cost departures terminal, has no confirmed smoking facility — recent traveller reports say the old room is closed.
Tips for Smokers at Portuguese Airports
- Lisbon Terminal 1 has after-security smoking rooms — you can smoke during a layover without leaving airside
- Flying Ryanair, Wizz or another low-cost carrier from Terminal 2? Smoke before you go — T2 has no confirmed room
- The Gate 47 vape area closes around 8 pm; plan around it for late flights
- Faro’s airside room is in the Non-Schengen Gates B zone — Schengen departures from Gates A should smoke outside the terminal before security
- Porto is landside-only: use the designated forecourt areas outside the terminal doors before you check in
- Gate numbers are traveller-reported and can shift — follow the signage to the nearest smoking room
- Flying via Madeira? A 2017 traveller report described the airside terrace at FNC as open 24 hours; that has not been independently reconfirmed since, so check on arrival for a very late connection
Portugal Airports Compared: Indoor, Outdoor & After Security
| Airport | After security | Indoor room | Outdoor area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Faro Airport (FAO) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Lisbon Humberto Delgado Airport (LIS) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Smoking at Madeira Airport – FNC | Yes | – | Yes |
| Smoking at Ponta Delgada Airport – PDL | – | – | Yes |
| Francisco Sa Carneiro Airport (OPO) | – | – | Yes |