Yes, you can smoke at Tunis-Carthage Airport. OACA, the airport operator, states that smoking areas are provided in the controlled zone after security at both departures and arrivals, and landside smokers use the open air outside the main terminal entrances.
Tunis-Carthage International Airport (TUN) is Tunisia’s primary gateway, operated by OACA and running almost entirely through its single main passenger building, Terminal 1. Before security, smokers use the open air outside the main terminal entrances; after security, the areas OACA lists in the controlled zone cover both departures and arrivals.
Smoking Airside (After Security)
OACA’s own passenger-services page for Tunis-Carthage is unusually direct: smoking inside the terminal building is prohibited, and smoking areas (“espaces fumeurs”) are provided in the controlled zone at both departures and arrivals. That puts a sanctioned smoke within reach after security whichever direction you are travelling, and covers arriving passengers waiting on baggage as well as departing ones.
For the layout, travellers described a pair of departures rooms in the Terminal 1 concourse in 2022, one near Gate 53 and another near Gate 58 — glass-partitioned spaces with white chairs and small tables, signed “Espace pour Fumeurs / Smoking Area”, free to any passenger who has cleared security. They are small, with room for a handful of people at a time. Gate numbering shifts over the years, so treat those numbers as orientation and follow the signage along the concourse. Once you are airside you cannot step back out to the open air landside without re-clearing security, so the concourse areas are the practical choice after passport control.
If you were hoping to smoke inside a lounge, note that the AVS VIP Services departures lounge is temporarily closed, so it is not a reliable indoor smoking spot at present. The concourse areas are the free alternative.
Smoking Landside (Before Security)
Before security, smoking is for the open air outside the main terminal, by the entrances and exits. It is easy to reach on arrival, before check-in, or after you land and collect your bags, and it covers both departing and arriving passengers. Smoking inside the terminal building is prohibited outright and can draw a fine, so step outside rather than lighting up in the hall.
Vaping
The legal status of e-cigarettes in Tunisia is unclear: they are sold with no clear regulation, and the airport publishes no separate vaping rule. Whether the airside smoking rooms admit e-cigarettes is not confirmed, so ask staff before using one. The open air outside the main terminal entrances is the option before security. The wider Tunisian rules live on our Tunisia guide.
Summary table
| Location | Smoking allowed |
|---|---|
| Airside smoking areas (controlled zone, departures and arrivals) | Yes — listed by OACA |
| Landside outdoor (terminal entrances & exits) | Yes |
| Terminal concourses / gates / halls | No |
| AVS VIP departures lounge | Temporarily closed |
| Vaping in the airside smoking rooms | Not confirmed — ask staff |
For Tunisia’s airport smoking rules and vaping law, see our Tunisia airport smoking guide.