Yes, you can smoke at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) outdoors, on the curbs and walkways outside the terminal, set back from the entrance doors. The airport’s own FAQ puts it plainly: smoking is not allowed anywhere within the terminal, and you may smoke outside as long as you are considerate of the people around you. That makes SRQ a step-outside airport — departing smokers have their cigarette before the checkpoint, and anyone already airside has to leave the secure area and screen back in.
How Sarasota Bradenton Airport Is Laid Out
SRQ has a single terminal building serving all of its airlines, with ticketing and the departures curb upstairs and baggage claim and ground transportation at ground level. Two concourses hang off that one building. Concourse B is the original pier of jet-bridge gates reached from the main checkpoint on the upper level. Concourse A is the newer wing: a 75,300-square-foot, five-gate ground-boarding facility that opened in January 2025 at a cost of $120 million, with its own four-lane security checkpoint and its own concessions. Between them the airport now has 18 gates.
Ten airlines serve Sarasota — Air Canada, Allegiant, American, Avelo, Breeze, Delta, jetBlue, Southwest, Sun Country and United. The airport handled 4,514,781 passengers in calendar 2025, a 6.34% rise on the 4,245,686 it recorded in 2024 and a record for the airport. It is a busy leisure gateway rather than a connecting hub, so most people passing through are starting or ending a trip rather than sitting out a layover.
Where to Smoke Outside the Terminal
Smoking at SRQ is an outdoor activity, and the terminal is compact enough that getting out to it is quick from anywhere landside. The practical spots are the departures curb on the upper level and the arrivals and baggage-claim curb below, both away from the sliding doors, plus the open walkways between the terminal and the short-term parking lot, where there is more space and less foot traffic.
The airport does not publish a map of marked smoking spots, so the sensible approach is to put real distance between yourself and the entrances, keep out of the flow of passengers at the curb, and stub out in a proper receptacle. One rule worth knowing: the Authority’s Rules and Regulations bar smoking within 100 feet of any aircraft, hangar, refueling vehicle or fuel loading station, which is why the ramp side of the building is off limits entirely. Indoors, Florida’s Clean Indoor Air Act keeps enclosed workplaces across the state smoke-free, and vaping was folded into the same law in 2019.
Sarasota’s weather makes an outdoor break easy for most of the year — dry, warm winters and mild evenings. Summer afternoons bring heat, high humidity and short, heavy thunderstorms, and the curbside canopy is the only shelter, so time your break around the rain rather than through it.
Concourse A
Smoking: Outdoors only — exit the terminal and move clear of the entrances. After security: The gates are smoke-free; every smoking spot is landside.
Concourse A is the ground-boarding wing that opened in January 2025, with five gates leased to Allegiant, extra seating with charging points, a nursing room, family restrooms and food from local names including Anna Maria Oyster Bar. It has its own four-lane checkpoint, which is the one you would re-clear after stepping outside for a cigarette — worth remembering, because it is a separate queue from the main terminal checkpoint.
Concourse B
Smoking: Outdoors only — exit the terminal and move clear of the entrances. After security: The gates are smoke-free; every smoking spot is landside.
Concourse B is the established pier of jet-bridge gates on the upper level, reached through the main terminal checkpoint, and it carries most of the airport’s carriers now that Allegiant has consolidated next door. The walk back from a far B gate to the doors and out to the curb takes only a few minutes.
After Security
Every place you can smoke at SRQ is before the checkpoint. To smoke once you are airside, you leave the secure area completely, step outside the terminal, and screen back in through the checkpoint that serves your gate. The building is small and the exits feed straight onto the curb, so the walking part barely registers — budget 25 to 35 minutes for the whole round trip and you will be back at the gate with room to spare.
If Sarasota is one leg of a longer trip, our guide to smoking during layovers explains how to judge whether a connection leaves you enough time to get outside and back. Travellers heading up the coast should note that Tampa International Airport keeps outdoor smoking patios past security on all four of its airsides, which makes it the easiest airport in the region for a smoker; Fort Myers Southwest Florida International Airport, an hour south, works the same way SRQ does, with marked curbside areas outside the main terminal.
E-Cigarettes and Vaping
Vaping and e-cigarettes follow the cigarette rules at SRQ: outdoors, away from the terminal entrances, never inside the building or at the gates. The airport’s Rules and Regulations name vaping and electronic cigarettes alongside smoking in the same section, so there is no separate indoor allowance for a device. TSA allows vape devices and spare lithium 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 |
| Concourse A | No | No smoking room; exit and re-clear the Concourse A checkpoint |
| Concourse B | No | No smoking room; exit and re-clear the main checkpoint |
| Outside the terminal | Yes | Departures and arrivals curbs and parking walkways, clear of the doors |
| 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.