Yes, Sharjah International Airport (SHJ) has designated indoor smoking rooms after security, distributed through the departures and gate areas of its single terminal. The rooms are enclosed, ventilated, and air-conditioned, and lounge directories list a further smoking area inside the airside First Class Lounge. The airport’s official policy is strict: smoking is permitted only in these designated rooms, and it is illegal to smoke anywhere else on the premises.
Sharjah is the home hub of low-cost carrier Air Arabia and a popular budget gateway near Dubai, about 30 minutes from the city centre. Sharjah emirate is the UAE’s most conservative on public decency and has no alcohol licensing, so keep smoking strictly to the marked rooms; the airport provides those rooms in line with the same UAE federal smoking rules that apply at Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
التدخين في مطار الشارقة الدولي - SHJ
Airport Layout
Sharjah runs from a single terminal that handles all international traffic under one roof. It is compact and quick to cross compared with the sprawling Dubai International, and Air Arabia dominates the board with flights across the Gulf, the Levant, Central Asia and the CIS, East Africa, and — heavily — the Indian subcontinent. The airport handles roughly 16 million passengers a year, so peak banks can feel crowded despite the small footprint.
Smoking Rooms (After Security)
The designated smoking rooms are airside, spread through the departures and gate areas past the security checkpoint. They are enclosed, air-conditioned, and mechanically ventilated. Because the terminal is small, any room is a short walk from most gates — follow the signage or ask at an information desk for the nearest one. As all the rooms sit inside the secure zone, you can smoke during a layover without clearing passport control or re-screening. The airport’s rule is firm: smoking is only permitted in these designated rooms, and lighting up anywhere else in the terminal draws a fine.
Lounge Smoking
The airside First Class Lounge (first level) is reported by several lounge directories to include a designated smoking area among its facilities — useful if you have Priority Pass or pay-at-the-door access and want to smoke without walking back to a public room. The separate Business Class Lounge does not list a smoking area. Lounge amenities change without notice, so confirm at the desk when you check in.
Landside (Before Security)
The airport’s official policy permits smoking only in the designated rooms inside the terminal — it states plainly that smoking is illegal outside these areas, and it lists no sanctioned landside or outdoor smoking spot. If you have not yet cleared security, plan your first cigarette for the airside rooms once you are through; there are no smoking rooms in the public landside hall.
Transit and Air Arabia Connections
Air Arabia is a point-to-point low-cost carrier, so many “connections” through Sharjah are self-transfers rather than through-checked itineraries. If your bags and boarding pass carry through and you stay airside, the departures smoking rooms are available for the whole layover. If you have to collect bags, exit, and re-check in for a separate ticket, you will pass back through the landside hall — plan your next cigarette for the airside rooms once you are back through security, as there are no landside rooms and the official policy sanctions no outdoor spot. Give yourself extra time at busy South Asia and CIS banks, when queues at security and passport control run long.
Summary
| Area | Smoking Allowed | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Departures / gates (after security) | Yes | Indoor rooms | Enclosed, ventilated, air-conditioned |
| First Class Lounge (airside) | Yes | Indoor area | Listed by lounge directories; confirm at the desk |
| Outside terminal (landside) | No sanctioned area | — | Official policy: designated rooms only |
| General terminal, gates, check-in hall | No | — | Fined under UAE federal law |
Compared with the much larger Dubai International (DXB) nearby, SHJ has fewer rooms but a shorter walk to reach them.
For UAE airport smoking rules, vaping rules, and other general info, see our UAE smoking guide.