Yes, you can smoke at Piedmont Triad International Airport (GSO) outdoors, at the terminal curbs and in the parking areas around the building, away from the entrance doors. The terminal itself is smoke-free from the ticket counters through to the gates, so a departing smoker steps outside first and clears the TSA checkpoint afterwards. GSO is a compact airport with two short concourses, which makes that round trip far quicker than it would be at a large connecting hub.
How Piedmont Triad International Is Laid Out
GSO has a single terminal building of 296,000 square feet on two public levels: departures and ticketing upstairs, baggage claim and ground transportation downstairs. Two concourses run off it — the North Concourse holds Gates 20 to 34 and serves Delta, United and Allegiant, and the South Concourse holds Gates 40 to 51 and serves American. Each concourse has its own security checkpoint at its end of the ticketing hall, along with its own ticket counters and baggage claim, so you return through the checkpoint that belongs to your own concourse.
The terminal building stays open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and the TSA checkpoints open at 4:15 a.m. Five airlines serve Greensboro — Allegiant, American, Breeze, Delta and United — and the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority’s published statistics put 2025 traffic at just over 2.03 million passengers through the terminal, with 985,563 enplanements recorded for 2024 in the FAA’s commercial-service figures. It is a comfortable regional airport that you can walk end to end in a few minutes.
Where to Smoke Outside the Terminal
Smoking at GSO is an outdoor activity, and it has been since 1 September 2009, when a Guilford County Board of Health rule extended the indoor smoking ban to buildings owned by local governments in the county — the Airport Authority among them. The Authority’s policy allows smoking only in designated areas outside the terminal buildings, and it covers cigars and e-cigarettes as well as cigarettes.
The airport does not mark those spots on its published terminal maps, so the practical approach is the simple one: get out of the doorway traffic and put distance between yourself and the entrances. On the departure level the curb runs past doors 1 to 6; on the arrival level it runs past doors 1 to 7. Doors 2 and 5 upstairs and doors 2 and 6 downstairs are the ride-share pickup and drop-off points and stay busy through the day, so the quieter stretches of curb, the walkways across to the long-term parking lots, and the long-term parking garage are the easier places to stand. Use a proper receptacle for the butt — keeping the terminal frontage clean was one of the stated reasons for the policy.
Greensboro sits in the North Carolina Piedmont, so summers are hot and humid and winters mild with occasional ice. None of the outdoor areas at GSO is sheltered or heated, so a rainy day means a walk to the parking garage rather than a stand at the curb.
North Concourse — Gates 20 to 34
Smoking: Outdoors only — exit the terminal and move clear of the entrances. After security: The gates are smoke-free; every smoking spot is landside.
The North Concourse handles Delta, United and Allegiant from Gates 20 through 34. Post-security it has The Local @ GSO for regional food and drink, a Starbucks, the CNBC Store for news and snacks, and a lactation suite. The walk back to the checkpoint and out to the curb takes about five minutes at a normal pace.
South Concourse — Gates 40 to 51
Smoking: Outdoors only — exit the terminal and move clear of the entrances. After security: The gates are smoke-free; every smoking spot is landside.
The South Concourse is American’s side of the airport, Gates 40 through 51. ACC American Café sits by Gate 45 with Kitty Hawk News next to it, and there is a second Starbucks and a lactation suite on this concourse too. Both concourses feed the same ticketing hall and the same set of curbside doors, so it makes little difference to a smoker which one your flight leaves from.
After Security
Every place you can smoke at GSO is before the TSA checkpoint. To smoke once you are airside, you have to leave the secure area, step outside, and screen back in at your concourse’s checkpoint. The terminal is small enough that the walk barely registers — budget 25 to 35 minutes for the whole round trip and you will be back at the gate with time in hand. Early-morning departures are the one case worth planning around, since the checkpoints open at 4:15 a.m. and the queue builds quickly straight afterwards.
There is a good pre-security option if you want to combine a meal with a cigarette break: the PGA TOUR Grill, the Great American Bagel & Panini Company and the Piedmont Marketplace shop all sit in the main terminal ahead of the checkpoints, so you can eat, step out for a smoke, and only then commit to security. The airport’s free Executive Center business area is landside as well.
If GSO is one leg of a longer trip, our guide to smoking during layovers covers how to judge whether a connection leaves you enough room to get outside and back. Connections through the state’s larger airports work the same way: the Charlotte Douglas airport page and the Raleigh-Durham airport page both cover outdoor-only setups where the smoking spots sit at the curb.
E-Cigarettes and Vaping
Vaping and e-cigarettes follow the same rules as cigarettes at GSO: outdoors, away from the terminal entrances, never inside the building or at the gates — the Airport Authority’s policy names e-cigarettes explicitly. TSA allows vape devices and spare 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Terminal interior | No | Smoke-free from ticketing to the gates |
| North Concourse (Gates 20–34) | No | No smoking room; exit and re-clear security |
| South Concourse (Gates 40–51) | No | No smoking room; exit and re-clear security |
| Outside the terminal | Yes | Curbs at doors 1–7, parking lots and the parking garage, clear of the entrances |
| Restaurants and bars | No | All indoor areas smoke-free |
| Vaping / e-cigarettes | Outdoor only | Same rules as cigarettes |
For USA airport smoking rules, state vape rules, lighter rules at TSA, and other federal/state info, see our USA smoking guide.