Yes — Colombo Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB), Sri Lanka’s main international gateway, has an airside smoking room after immigration, so departing and transit passengers can smoke without leaving the secure zone. Sri Lanka bans smoking in enclosed public places, and airports are one of the few settings allowed a designated indoor room.
Where to Smoke at Colombo Airport (CMB)
The primary smoking room is inside the Flemingo Duty Free shop on the airside departure level, reached after you clear immigration and enter the duty-free zone. A second smoking area sits one level up, on the first floor of the departure hall near the Serendib Lounge (SriLankan Airlines’ lounge): take the escalator by duty free, turn left, and walk about 20 metres. The lounge itself is non-smoking — the smoking room is a separate enclosed facility. Arriving passengers have limited outdoor areas near the terminal entrance.
Sri Lanka’s Smoking Law
The National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) Act of 2006 bans smoking in public places, and specifically exempts designated smoking areas in airports and in hotels with 30 or more rooms. That exemption is why CMB is allowed its airside room even though indoor smoking is otherwise prohibited. Smoking outside the designated areas is not permitted and can result in a fine.
Vaping and E-cigarettes
The Prohibited Tobacco Products Regulations of 2016 ban the manufacture, import, sale and offer for sale of e-cigarettes, vapes and heated tobacco in Sri Lanka; personal use is not addressed by the regulations. Carrying a device in from abroad counts as importing it, and customs at Colombo seize the ones they find, so leave vaping gear at home; the designated smoking rooms are for cigarettes only.
Transit and Practical Tips
Sri Lanka Customs allows no cigarettes, cigars, beedies or snuff into the country in passenger baggage, accompanied or unaccompanied, so arriving smokers cannot carry in their own supply and buy locally sold brands after clearing customs instead; Customs restated the ban on 30 January 2026, when it destroyed 232,804,000 seized foreign cigarettes and warned arriving passengers of penalties under the law. CMB currently operates from a single terminal, so the airside smoking room is easy to reach on a layover. A larger, JICA-funded Terminal 2 is under construction, with the new terminal expected to open around 2027–2028, so facilities are unchanged for now. Locations can shift during renovation work — follow terminal signage or ask staff if you cannot find the room.
Other Sri Lankan Airports
Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport, near Hambantota, permits open-air smoking landside with no indoor or airside smoking room published. It is Sri Lanka’s other international airport, with light traffic.
Sri Lanka Airports Compared: Indoor, Outdoor & After Security
| Airport | After security | Indoor room | Outdoor area |
|---|---|---|---|
| CMB (CMB) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Smoking at Mattala Rajapaksa Airport – HRI | – | – | Yes |