Yes, you can smoke at Venezuela’s main international airport — outdoors, on the landside area outside the terminal building, before security. Simón Bolívar International Airport (CCS) in Maiquetía, serving the capital Caracas, keeps its terminal interior smoke-free; no smoking facility is confirmed in the temporary terminals now in use after the 2026 earthquake, and open-air smoking outside them, landside, is permitted under national law.
For international travel through Venezuela, CCS is the airport that matters — the country’s primary gateway, rebuilding service after the most disruptive event in its recent history.
How Venezuelan Airport Smoking Works
Venezuela’s Resolution No. 030 (2011) keeps indoor public places, workplaces and public transport smoke-free, which covers Maiquetía’s terminal buildings:
- No indoor or airside smoking room is confirmed at CCS, in the current temporary terminals or in traveller reports of the original one
- Smoking is at the outdoor landside area outside the terminal building, before security
- Vaping is banned outright nationwide under Resolution No. 414 (2023) — manufacture, distribution, sale and use of e-cigarettes and heated-tobacco products are all prohibited
Simón Bolívar International Airport (Maiquetía) — CCS
Venezuela’s main gateway, serving Caracas from the coastal town of Maiquetía. A magnitude-7.2/7.5 earthquake doublet struck northern Venezuela on 24 June 2026, severely damaging the airport and forcing an indefinite closure; the Instituto Aeropuerto Internacional de Maiquetía (IAIM) built reinforced-metal modular terminals in the weeks that followed and reopened commercial service on 1 September 2026. CCS’s smoking area is the landside area outside the temporary terminal buildings; international carriers including Avianca, LATAM Colombia, Copa Airlines, Iberia, Air Europa and Plus Ultra have resumed flights as the airport rebuilds toward its pre-earthquake traffic of around 8.2 million passengers a year.
Tips for Smokers at Venezuelan Airports
- CCS restricts smoking to the outdoor landside area outside the terminal — plan your last cigarette before check-in or security
- No airside or indoor smoking room is confirmed at Maiquetía, in the current temporary terminals or in the dated traveller report about the original one
- Leave vaping devices out of your plans entirely — Venezuela bans e-cigarettes nationwide, not just indoors
- A connection through Maiquetía means clearing immigration and exiting to the outdoor area, then re-clearing security; allow extra time given the temporary terminals’ reduced capacity
Venezuela Airports Compared: Indoor, Outdoor & After Security
| Airport | After security | Indoor room | Outdoor area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simón Bolívar International Airport (CCS) | – | – | Yes |