Yes, you can smoke at Tucson International Airport (TUS) in the designated outdoor areas outside the east and west entrances of the main terminal, on both the ticketing level and the lower level. That works out to four practical spots, one at each end of each level, marked and set back from the doors. The terminal interior is smoke-free under Arizona’s indoor smoking law, so a departing smoker steps out through the nearest entrance rather than looking for a lounge past the checkpoint.
Designated Smoking Areas
The airport’s passenger FAQ states that “designated smoking areas are outside the east and west entrances of the main terminal on both the ticketing and lower levels.” The ticketing level is the upper, departures frontage where you are dropped off; the lower level is the arrivals and baggage claim curb underneath it. Both ends of both levels have a marked area, so wherever you enter or leave the building you are close to one.
Two practical points from the same FAQ: smokers must stay at least 20 feet away from an entrance, and the airport asks that people entering and leaving have a clear pathway where they are not walking through smoke. The marked areas are positioned with that in mind, which is why they sit out along the curb rather than beside the doors.
Tucson sits in the Sonoran Desert at around 2,600 feet, and the areas are open-air. Winter mornings are cool and dry, summer afternoons run hot, and the July and August monsoon brings short, heavy downpours in the late afternoon, so time your last cigarette accordingly in high summer.
After Security
Every smoking area at TUS is landside, outside the main terminal; both concourses past the TSA checkpoints are smoke-free. To smoke once you are airside, you exit the concourse, walk out of the nearest terminal entrance to a marked area, and screen back in.
That round trip is unusually painless here. TUS is a compact single-terminal airport, the checkpoints sit at the same east and west ends of the building as the marked areas outside, and the airport reports security waits of under 15 minutes outside the early-morning and midday peaks. Allow about 30 minutes door to door and you will be back at the gate comfortably. If you are connecting rather than departing, our guide to smoking during layovers covers how to judge whether the exit-and-rescreen trip fits your connection.
How Tucson Airport Is Laid Out
TUS is a single main terminal with two concourses in use, the A gates and the B gates, and it handles more than 135,400 landings and takeoffs a year across commercial, military, business and general aviation traffic.
There are two TSA checkpoints, one at the entrance to each set of gates, and the concourses are not connected past security — so it matters which one you use. Passengers on Alaska, American and Delta enter the B gates at the west end of the departures level. Passengers on Frontier, Southwest, Sun Country and United enter the A gates at the east side of the main terminal. A third set of C gates has its own checkpoint that opens only when flights are scheduled from it.
Because the smoking areas are at the east and west entrances, they line up with the two checkpoints: the A-gates crowd smokes at the east end, the B-gates crowd at the west end. Both checkpoints open by 4 a.m. daily, or roughly two hours before the first departure. One local quirk worth knowing if you are timing a cigarette against a boarding call: Tucson does not observe Daylight Saving Time, so airline schedules shift relative to the rest of the country between March and November.
Arizona’s other major airport, Phoenix Sky Harbor, works the same way for smokers: 15 marked areas, all of them outdoors on the landside curbs.
E-Cigarettes and Vaping
Vaping and e-cigarettes follow the same rule as cigarettes at TUS. The airport’s FAQ is explicit that smoking or vaping, including use of any type of e-cigarette, is not permitted inside its buildings, and directs vapers to the same outside designated smoking areas. TSA allows vape devices and spare batteries in carry-on baggage only; they are not permitted in checked bags.
Summary
| Area | Smoking | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Terminal interior | No | Smoke-free throughout, including ticketing and baggage claim |
| A gates (Frontier, Southwest, Sun Country, United) | No | Exit and re-clear the east checkpoint |
| B gates (Alaska, American, Delta) | No | Exit and re-clear the west checkpoint |
| East and west entrances, ticketing level | Yes | Designated outdoor areas, 20 feet back from the doors |
| East and west entrances, lower level | Yes | Designated outdoor areas on the baggage claim curb |
| Vaping and e-cigarettes | Outdoor only | Same rule as cigarettes |
For USA airport smoking rules, state vape rules, lighter rules at TSA, and other federal/state info, see our USA smoking guide.