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. Tunisia enforces its public-place smoking rules loosely, and smokers generally find somewhere to light up both before and after security, which makes TUN one of the more relaxed North-African airports for a transit cigarette.
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 who used the departures rooms in 2022 placed a pair of them in the Terminal 1 concourse, 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, so at busy departure banks you may wait for a spot. 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
Vapers use the same designated smoking areas as cigarette smokers. E-cigarettes are sold in Tunisia with no clear regulation, so treat a vape like a cigarette: use it in the designated areas, carry what you need, and keep it discreet — 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 |
For Tunisia’s airport smoking rules and vaping law, see our Tunisia airport smoking guide.