Cairns, AustraliaSmoking policy at Cairns Airport (CNS)
Warnings & Caveats
Smoking is banned inside the terminal and everywhere airside. Queensland's Tobacco and Other Smoking Products Act 1998 allows smoking at airports only in designated areas.
You can smoke at Cairns Airport only in designated outdoor areas outside the terminals; smoking is not permitted airside.
Before security
A Cairns Airport notice posted in July 2026 says the smoking area outside the T2 Domestic Terminal Arrivals closed permanently from 20 July. Passengers and staff are advised to use the designated smoking areas, the first of which is outside the T2 Domestic Terminal check-in, with another at the northern end of the T2 Domestic Terminal. The airport's operator policy allows smoking only in designated areas under Queensland's Tobacco and Other Smoking Products Act 1998. A traveller guide describes the areas as at least 5 metres from the terminal building.
After security
Airside is a no-smoking area. The operator's No Smoking Airside Policy (2019) says smoking is not permitted in any airside area designated as non-smoking, and the airport does not list any smoking area after security.
Airport transfers for Cairns Airport
Vaping and heated tobacco
The airport does not state a separate vaping rule. Queensland's smoke-free rules cover e-cigarettes as well as cigarettes, so treat vaping the same way: only where smoking is allowed, outdoors.
Connecting flights
If you connect through Cairns, you cannot smoke airside. Leaving the secure area to smoke means going back through security, so allow plenty of time. The airport does not state a re-entry rule.
Tips
Look for the signed areas outside the terminal doors and put cigarette butts in the bins provided.
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