Yes, you can smoke at Wilmington International Airport (ILM) outdoors, out beyond the terminal doors in the curb and parking areas. The terminal building is smoke-free from the ticket counters through to the gates, so a departing passenger smokes before the TSA checkpoint and clears screening afterwards. ILM is a compact single-terminal airport with one checkpoint, which makes that round trip far quicker than it would be at a large connecting hub.
How Wilmington International Airport Is Laid Out
ILM has one passenger terminal serving nine gates, all fed by a single security checkpoint. The final phase of the airport’s terminal programme — an expanded concourse, extra gates and additional screening lanes — was completed in the autumn of 2023, and the old and new sections now read as one building. Ticketing, baggage claim and the concession that sits before security are all within a couple of minutes’ walk of each other, so nothing here involves a long trek.
Seven airlines serve Wilmington: American, Avelo, Breeze, Delta, JetBlue, Sun Country and United, flying to around 25 destinations. The airport handled 1,826,994 passengers in 2025 — 907,753 of them boarding — which was a record and a rise of roughly a quarter on the 1,465,869 carried in 2024. The terminal is open 24 hours a day; airline counters generally start work at 4 a.m. and the TSA checkpoint at about 4.15 a.m.
Wilmington is also in the middle of a wider construction programme. A temporary curb front is in use in front of the terminal and stays in place for the duration of the permanent work, with an extended departures and arrivals curb, overhead canopies, a separate commercial drop-off lane, a pedestrian tunnel from the parking area and a new parking deck all in progress. Expect the layout outside the doors to shift, and follow the signs rather than memory if you have not flown from ILM recently.
Where to Smoke Outside the Terminal
Smoking at ILM is an outdoor activity, and the airport publishes no map of marked smoking spots. New Hanover County’s smoke-free rule keeps county buildings and their grounds smoke-free except where areas are expressly designated, so the sensible habit at ILM is distance: walk out past the curb and into the parking areas before you light up rather than standing near an entrance.
Practical spots are the far ends of the terminal curb, away from the doors and the drop-off traffic, and the surface parking lots directly across from the building. Because the curb front is a temporary arrangement during construction, the walk from the doors to open ground is a short one — head for the parking lots, keep out of the vehicle lanes, and use a proper receptacle for the butt.
Drivers meeting an arriving passenger have an easier time of it. ILM’s cell phone waiting lot sits off Airport Boulevard, well away from the terminal entrances, and is the natural place to wait outdoors with a cigarette until the call comes through to move up to the curb. Cars left unattended at the curb itself are ticketed or towed, so waiting at the lot is the better plan regardless.
Wilmington’s coastal climate makes the outdoor break pleasant for most of the year. Summer afternoons are hot and humid with sudden thunderstorms, and none of the outdoor areas is sheltered, so a quick check of the sky is worth it before you commit to a break.
The Gate Concourse
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 single concourse holds the airport’s post-security food and drink: Riverwalk Restaurant and Bar for a full bar and sit-down meals, Flying Machine Bar for local brewery beers, Bar Stop for sandwiches and drinks, Jimmy John’s, Dunkin’, a second Port City Java and The Market at ILM for snacks and souvenirs. Public art and a display on the region’s aviation history line the walk down to the gates. Nothing in the concourse is more than a few minutes from the exit back into the main hall.
Ticketing and Baggage Claim
Smoking: Outdoors only — step through the doors and keep walking. After security: Not applicable; this is the landside half of the terminal.
The landside hall holds the airline ticket counters, the baggage carousels, the rental car desks and a Port City Java before the checkpoint — the one place at ILM where you can have a coffee, step outside for a cigarette and only then commit to security. Arriving passengers are through the doors within a couple of minutes of the carousel, which makes the first smoke after landing an easy one.
After Security
Every place you can smoke at ILM is before the TSA checkpoint. Once airside there is no smoking room and no smoking terrace; the only outdoor space past screening is the designated pet relief area, provided for travelling animals. Smoking after screening therefore means leaving the secure area entirely, stepping outside, and clearing the checkpoint a second time.
At an airport this size that is a genuinely realistic option. The concourse is small, the walk to the doors is short, and 20 to 30 minutes covers the whole round trip outside the early-morning rush. Aim to be back at the gate well before boarding, since ILM runs a single checkpoint and a bank of morning departures can put a queue in front of it.
If Wilmington is one leg of a longer itinerary, our guide to smoking during layovers explains how to judge whether a connection leaves you room to get outside and back. Most ILM passengers connect through Charlotte, where the smoking rules at Charlotte Douglas also send you outside the terminal, and the same is true at Raleigh-Durham two hours up the road, which marks its outdoor areas outside both terminals.
E-Cigarettes and Vaping
Vaping and e-cigarettes follow the cigarette rules at ILM: outdoors, clear of the terminal entrances, never inside the building or at the gates. New Hanover County’s smoke-free rule names e-cigarettes alongside lit tobacco, so there is no separate allowance for a discreet puff indoors. TSA allows vape devices and spare batteries in carry-on baggage only — they cannot go 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 |
| Gate concourse | No | No smoking room; exit and re-clear security |
| Ticketing and baggage claim | No | Landside, indoors and smoke-free |
| Outside the terminal | Yes | Curb ends and parking lots, clear of the entrance doors |
| Cell phone waiting lot | Yes | Off Airport Boulevard, away from the terminal |
| 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.