Facing with increasing stringent smoking policies at the airports, smoking is basically prohibited in most of the terminal buildings. However, an airport that fail to provide smoking facilities may risk itself to a lower international ranking and deficient customer services.
Travelling smoker may go through security too early and find out that there is nowhere to relieve their cravings and end up with several hours without a cigarette. In some cases, they may even have to go for a sneaky smoke in a toilet that can set of the fire alarm and get the airport evacuated.
The fact is around 1/4 to 1/3 of the world’s adult population (i.e. 1 billion people) are smokers and refusing to provide any airport smoking lounge is neglecting the needs of a large amount of its users, by doing so the airport is also providing bad customer service which must reflect on the general standing of the airport.
Generally smoking travelers plan long trips around airports with smoking lounges. It is time for some of the large airports to handle the smoking policy with more considerations and start providing their customers with the facilities they deserve.
