Yes, you can smoke at Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) outdoors, in the marked designated area along the front curb outside the ticket lobby. The terminal building is smoke-free from check-in through to the gates, so a departing smoker steps outside first and clears the TSA checkpoint afterwards. AVL is a small single-terminal airport, which keeps that round trip short compared with a big connecting hub.
How Asheville Regional Airport Is Laid Out in 2026
AVL is in the middle of a complete terminal replacement called AVL Forward, and the airport you walk into today is largely new. The new ticket lobby opened on 11 June 2025 and the new TSA security checkpoint on 25 June 2025, both on the first floor at the west end of the building. Airline check-in, an ATM, restrooms and the checkpoint are all there; escalators, stairs and a lift carry you up to the second-floor concourse.
Gates 7 to 12 board from the new North Concourse on that second floor, along with the airport’s food and shopping — Aletitude, Costa Coffee, Jimmy John’s, Tropical Smoothie Café, The goods@AVL and vending. Gates 1 to 6 still board from the legacy terminal at the far end, reached along a signposted construction corridor that steps outdoors on the way across. Baggage claim moved out of the legacy building on 17 April 2026: arriving passengers now come down to the ticket lobby and follow a marked outdoor passenger pathway along the curb to the new claim hall, where the new rental car counters opened on 20 May 2026.
Five airlines serve Asheville — Allegiant, American, Delta, Sun Country and United — flying nonstop to 26 destinations. The airport handled 2,240,877 passengers in 2025, its second-busiest year on record. When AVL Forward finishes at the end of 2027 or early 2028, the terminal will run to 335,000 square feet with 12 gates across two concourses, a five-gate South Concourse and a central checkpoint replacing the temporary arrangements.
Where to Smoke Outside the Terminal
Smoking at AVL is an outdoor activity. The airport’s Rules and Regulations make it unlawful to smoke in any enclosed area of the airport, including every part of the passenger terminal building, and permit smoking outside the terminal only in a Designated Area — a rule that sits alongside North Carolina’s Smoke-Free Public Health Act covering enclosed restaurants and bars.
That designated area is on the front curb outside the terminal, marked with signs. Asked about it by Asheville Watchdog in 2024, the airport described the spot as a small location along the front curb and said a more discreet area would be available once construction is complete. Nothing has replaced it since, so the curb outside the ticket lobby doors is where to head — look for the posted marker rather than assuming, because the construction has shifted the curb and its signage more than once.
Two practical notes. Arriving passengers are already walking outdoors on the passenger pathway between the concourse and the new baggage claim, which makes a post-flight cigarette easy to fit in on the way to the carousel. And Asheville sits at about 2,165 feet in the Blue Ridge foothills: summer evenings are pleasant, winter mornings can be near freezing, and the curb is not sheltered, so dress for the walk.
Gates 7–12 — North Concourse
Smoking: Outdoors only — go down to the ticket lobby and out to the curb. After security: The concourse is smoke-free; every smoking spot is landside.
The North Concourse is the finished half of the new terminal, with boarding bridges at every gate, charging seating, a rotating gallery of Western North Carolina art and local music programming. The walk from the far gate back to the escalators and out of the front doors takes about five minutes.
Gates 1–6 — Legacy Terminal
Smoking: Outdoors only — the designated area is back at the main front curb. After security: No smoking area; the corridor across is airside, not a smoking break.
Passengers on flights leaving from gates 1 to 6 pass through the new checkpoint, then follow the marked corridor to the older concourse. That route goes outside on the way, and it stays inside the secure area throughout, so it is not a place to light up. Allow extra minutes for the crossing.
After Security
Every place you can smoke at AVL is before the TSA checkpoint. To smoke once you are airside, leave the secure area, go down to the ticket lobby, step out to the curb, and screen back in afterwards. The terminal is small and AVL runs a single checkpoint, so the walk barely registers — budget 20 to 30 minutes for the whole round trip and rather more during the summer peak, when the airport asks passengers to arrive two hours before boarding.
There is nothing to eat or drink before the checkpoint in the new ticket lobby, so if you want a coffee with your cigarette, do it in town or wait for the concourse. If Asheville is one leg of a connection, our guide to smoking during layovers explains how to judge whether a connection leaves room to get outside and back, and the rules at the far end are much the same at both of AVL’s main connecting hubs — see the Charlotte Douglas airport page for the curbside areas at CLT and the Atlanta airport page for the marked outdoor areas by the terminal doors at ATL.
E-Cigarettes and Vaping
Vapes and e-cigarettes follow the cigarette rules at AVL: the designated outdoor area only, never inside the terminal. The airport’s Rules and Regulations name e-cigarettes and vape pens explicitly in the indoor ban, so the concourse, the restrooms and the gate areas are all off limits. TSA allows vape devices and spare lithium batteries in carry-on baggage only — they cannot travel in a checked bag — and using one on board an aircraft is prohibited by federal rule.
Summary
| Area | Smoking | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ticket lobby and check-in | No | Smoke-free; escalators up to the gates |
| North Concourse (gates 7–12) | No | No smoking area; exit and re-clear security |
| Legacy terminal (gates 1–6) | No | Corridor across is airside, not a break spot |
| Front curb outside the terminal | Yes | Marked designated smoking area |
| Baggage claim and rental cars | No | Reached by the outdoor passenger pathway |
| Restaurants and bars | No | All indoor areas smoke-free |
| Vaping / e-cigarettes | Outdoor only | Same designated area as cigarettes |
For USA airport smoking rules, state vape rules, lighter rules at TSA, and other federal/state info, see our USA smoking guide.