Gatwick smoking areas: where you can smoke, and where you cannot

Gatwick's smoking policy comes down to a single line: you can smoke or vape outside the terminal buildings, in the clearly marked designated zones, and nowhere else. Those zones are all landside, before security, so the practical version of the rule is that smoking happens on the forecourt and stops the moment you join the security queue. It applies identically at both terminals and covers cigarettes, cigars, and e-cigarettes alike.

The reason this page exists is the gap between that rule and what smokers hope for, which is a quiet airside terrace somewhere past the shops. There is exactly one, it is at the South Terminal, and it needs a paid lounge ticket. For everyone else, the cigarette before security is the last one until the destination, and the sections below make sure that lands where you can plan around it rather than discover it at the gate.

Both terminals have designated outdoor smoking zones outside the departures entrances, on the forecourts where the drop-off and pick-up traffic runs. They are marked, and they are the only places on the airport where lighting up is permitted. Because they sit landside, anyone can use them without a boarding pass: departing passengers before security, people seeing someone off, and arrivals who have come back out through the terminal.

The forecourt layout differs slightly between the North Terminal and the South Terminal, but the principle is the same at each, so follow the signage outside the doors rather than a fixed spot, since zones move with building works. Keep clear of the entrances themselves: the area immediately around the terminal doors is smoke-free, and the marked zones are set back from them. If you are arriving by car, the forecourt is a drop-off zone with its own charge and time limit, so it is not a place to linger for a leisurely cigarette.

Once you are through security, there is no smoking anywhere in the airside departure lounges, at either terminal, full stop. Gatwick is explicit that there are no smoking facilities past the checkpoint, and the ban covers cigarettes and vapes equally. Security is effectively a one-way door for smokers: departing passengers cannot pop back out to the forecourt and re-clear, so the last cigarette really does have to happen before you join the queue.

The group this hits hardest is connecting passengers. Gatwick states plainly that there are no facilities for anyone connecting from an international-to-international flight, and those passengers stay airside for the whole transfer, so a long layover means no smoking at all unless they can reach the one lounge terrace below. If you are connecting at Gatwick and that is a problem, the lounge exception is worth the cost; otherwise plan for a nicotine-free stretch that runs from your first security check to your final landing.

The single place to smoke airside at Gatwick is the outdoor terrace at My Lounge in the South Terminal, the only airside outdoor space anywhere at the airport. It is a genuine open-air terrace attached to the lounge, and smoking is permitted on it, which makes My Lounge South a specific draw for smokers facing a long wait or a long-haul departure. Entry is paid, from around £38 booked directly with the operator or a little less through the airport's own booking channel, and prices flex by date.

Two caveats keep this honest. The terrace is South Terminal only, so it does nothing for a North Terminal departure, and there is no equivalent at the North My Lounge or anywhere else airside. And a lounge ticket bought purely to smoke is an expensive cigarette; it makes sense when you would value the lounge anyway, for the food, the drinks and the seat, with the terrace as the deciding extra. The full lounge guide compares every option and what each costs, so you can judge whether the terrace tips the decision.

Vaping is treated exactly like smoking at Gatwick: e-cigarettes and vapes can only be used in the designated outdoor areas before security, and not in the terminals, not airside, and not on the aircraft. There is no separate, more relaxed vaping rule and no indoor vaping room, so a vape gets you no further past security than a cigarette does.

One thing worth knowing for the flight itself: vapes and e-cigarettes must travel in your hand luggage, never in the hold, because of their lithium batteries, and you cannot use them on board. Pack spare pods and the device in the cabin bag, expect to go without from the security queue until you land, and check the rules at your destination too, since some countries restrict or ban vapes entirely. The wider cabin-bag rules are covered in the baggage allowance guide.

• Treat the forecourt as your last stop. Have your cigarette in the marked zone outside the terminal before you join the security queue, because there is no going back out once you are airside.
• Build it into your timings, not your panic. Smoke before you head in, then allow the airport's recommended two hours for check-in and security without needing another one. Leaving it until the gate call means missing either the cigarette or the flight.
• Long-haul or connecting? Plan for nicotine, not just cigarettes. A patch, gum or a pouch covers the hours from security to landing, which on a long-haul or an airside connection can be a very long stretch with nowhere to smoke.
• Flying from the South Terminal with time to kill? The My Lounge terrace is the one airside option, and only worth it if you would use the lounge anyway. There is nothing equivalent at the North Terminal.
• Keep vapes in your hand luggage. Lithium batteries are banned from the hold, so the device and spare pods travel in the cabin bag, unused, from the queue to the carousel. The rest of the airport's rules and services are indexed in the services guide.