Yes, you can smoke at El Paso International Airport (ELP) in the designated outdoor areas the airport marks around the terminal — four of them, covering the courtyard on the east side of the terminal frontage, the west end of the bag claim level by the Rental Car Center, and two positions along the Convair Road curb. Cigars, cigarettes and electronic vapor cigarettes are all covered by the same permission. The terminal is smoke-free inside under City of El Paso Code Title 9.50, so smoking here means stepping out of the building.
Designated Smoking Areas
El Paso publishes an actual map of its designated smoking areas. Headed “Smoking is permitted in designated smoking areas only,” it marks four spots:
- The landscaped courtyard on the east side of the meeter-and-greeter frontage, at the front of the terminal — the easiest one to reach if you are arriving at or leaving from the ticketing doors.
- The west end of the bag claim and car rentals level, right beside the Rental Car Center — convenient if you have just picked up bags or are heading for a hire car.
- Two areas on the Convair Road curb, one at the east end of the bag claim frontage and one across the road at the edge of the short-term parking lot.
The airport’s passenger FAQ sets the accompanying rule plainly: smoking cigars, cigarettes and electronic vapor cigarettes is permitted only in those designated areas outside the terminal buildings, and not within 20 feet of entrances and exits. All four spots are open-air. El Paso runs hot and very dry from May through September and mild in winter, so the areas are comfortable for most of the year; the short late-summer monsoon storms are the main thing to time around.
After Security
Every designated area at ELP is landside. Both concourses past the checkpoint are smoke-free, including the Concourse B food court and the Concourse A gate areas.
Security here is reached by the escalators up from the ground-floor lobby, which makes the exit-and-return trip a simple one: back down the escalators, out through the lobby doors, across to a marked area, then through the checkpoint again. Thirty minutes covers it at most times of day. Departing smokers usually find it easier to finish outside before checking in. If you are connecting through El Paso rather than starting here, our guide to smoking during layovers sets out how to judge whether that trip fits your connection time.
How El Paso Airport Is Laid Out
ELP is a single terminal at 6701 Convair Road with two concourses, A and B. The ground floor holds the main lobby, ticketing, baggage claim, the La Placita shop area and the TSA queue lines, with the security escalators leading up to the concourses. Concourse A has the El Paso Marketplace shop near Gate A1 and a Starbucks and Standard Star across from Gate A2. Concourse B has the food court, Sun City News near Gate B3, Heritage Book Sellers near Gate B6, and a shoeshine booth near Gate B2.
Six carriers serve the airport: Southwest, American, United, Frontier, Delta and Alaska. Southwest is dominant — the airport’s own November 2025 activity report put its share at 53 percent, ahead of American on 23 percent and United on 12 percent. The same report recorded 3.49 million passengers through the first eleven months of 2025, down 5 percent on the same stretch of 2024 on reduced airline capacity.
That report also lists continued nonstop service to the major hubs: Dallas/Fort Worth, Phoenix, Denver, Houston Intercontinental, Atlanta and Los Angeles. If you are connecting onward at Dallas/Fort Worth, it is worth reading up before you land, since the smoking arrangements there are quite different from El Paso’s.
E-Cigarettes and Vaping
Vaping is treated identically to smoking at ELP. The airport’s FAQ names electronic vapor cigarettes alongside cigars and cigarettes in the same sentence, permitting all three only in the designated areas outside the terminal buildings. TSA allows vape devices and spare lithium batteries in carry-on baggage only; they are not permitted in checked bags.
Summary
| Area | Smoking | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Terminal interior | No | Ground floor, ticketing and baggage claim are all smoke-free |
| Concourse A | No | Exit through the lobby and re-clear the TSA checkpoint |
| Concourse B | No | Gates and food court are smoke-free |
| East courtyard, terminal frontage | Yes | Marked area by the meeter-and-greeter area |
| Bag claim level by the Rental Car Center | Yes | Marked area at the west end |
| Convair Road curb | Yes | Two marked areas by the short-term parking lots |
| Vaping and e-cigarettes | Outdoor only | Same rule as cigars and cigarettes |
For USA airport smoking rules, state vape rules, lighter rules at TSA, and other federal/state info, see our USA smoking guide.