Yes, you can smoke at London Southend Airport (SEN) in the dedicated smoking area outside the front of the main terminal building, before check-in. The airport’s own guidance points passengers to “a dedicated area outside the front of the main terminal building before check-in” and confirms that “there are no smoking facilities located in departures,” so this landside spot is the one place on site to light up.
The Designated Smoking Area
The smoking area is on the forecourt directly outside the front of the terminal, before you reach the check-in desks. Southend’s site is unusually compact — the terminal, the car parks and the railway station all sit within a couple of minutes’ walk of each other — so the area is easy to find and easy to fit into your arrival.
Its position also makes it convenient in both directions. Arriving by train, you walk the covered link from Southend Airport station straight past the front of the terminal, so a cigarette before check-in costs you no detour at all. Landing at Southend, the same forecourt is on your way out to the station, the taxi rank and the pick-up lanes.
Everything inside is smoke-free. The airport’s wording is that, in line with UK law, “smoking (including the use of electronic cigarettes or vaping) is not permitted inside the airport buildings and walkways” — that covers the check-in hall, the departure lounge, the covered walkway to the station, and the walk to and from the aircraft.
After Security
The forecourt area is your final smoke break before you fly, and at Southend that is worth taking literally. The airport states plainly that “once through security, there is no way to exit the airport before getting on your flight,” except in the case of a significant flight delay, when staff will be on hand to help. There is no re-entry route to walk back out for a cigarette, so finish yours on the forecourt.
The upside is that Southend’s terminal makes the timing easy. Security queues here are short by London-airport standards, and the departure lounge is a single escalator ride from the checkpoint, so you can smoke on the forecourt much closer to your departure time than you would risk at Stansted or Gatwick. If you are connecting onward from a Southend flight, our guide to smoking during layovers covers how to judge whether a break is worth the walk.
Southend’s busiest route is Amsterdam — note that Schiphol’s designated smoking area on Jan Dellaertplein is landside, before security, so the Southend forecourt is the last easy cigarette until you have fully arrived on the other end.
Terminal Layout and Airlines
Southend runs a single passenger terminal, opened in 2012 alongside its own railway station. Check-in and the smoking forecourt are at ground level; security leads up an escalator into the departure lounge, where you will find the shops, the eating and drinking outlets and the airside SKYLIFE Lounge. None of the airside spaces has a terrace or outdoor area.
easyJet is the anchor carrier and the only airline listed on the airport’s own airlines page, flying a European network that includes Amsterdam, Palma, Malaga, Alicante, Paris, Barcelona, Berlin, Ibiza, Jersey, Munich, Faro, Geneva, Malta and Tenerife. The airline opened a three-aircraft A320neo base at Southend in 2025, which lifted the airport to 720,000 passengers across that year — its busiest since 2019 — and pushed its destination count past 30.
Getting to London
Southend Airport railway station is about 100 steps from the terminal along a covered walkway, which makes it one of the easiest rail links at any London airport. Greater Anglia runs up to six trains an hour at peak times, reaching London Liverpool Street in around 52 minutes and Stratford — for the Elizabeth line and the Underground — in about 43.
Both the station and the trains are smoke-free, so the terminal forecourt area is the place to smoke at this end of the journey. Give yourself a few minutes at the forecourt before you walk through to the platform.
Vaping and E-Cigarettes
Vape at the same dedicated area outside the front of the terminal. Southend treats vaping and smoking identically, banning “the use of electronic cigarettes or vaping” everywhere inside the airport buildings and walkways, and heated-tobacco devices such as IQOS fall under the same rule.
Carry your device and spare batteries in your hand luggage rather than in checked bags. Since June 2025 disposable vapes can no longer be sold anywhere in the UK, so travel with a refillable device from home rather than expecting to buy one airside.
Summary
| Area | Smoking Allowed | Location Details |
|---|---|---|
| Outside the front of the main terminal | Yes | Dedicated landside area, before check-in |
| Inside the terminal and walkways | No | Smoke-free, including e-cigarettes and vaping |
| After security / departure lounge | No | No smoking facilities in departures; no exit and re-entry |
| SKYLIFE Lounge | No | Airside and smoke-free; no terrace |
| Southend Airport railway station | No | Smoke-free under National Rail policy; area is 100 steps away |
| Vaping | Outdoor area only | Same rule as cigarettes; devices go in hand luggage |
For United Kingdom airport smoking rules, vaping rules, and other general info, see our United Kingdom smoking guide.