Heathrow smoking areas: where you can smoke and vape

Every smoking area at Heathrow is outdoors and landside, which means before security. There are designated points on the forecourts outside each terminal building: by the departures entrances where you arrive to check in, and on the arrivals level near the taxi ranks where you come out after landing.

Heathrow does not list the exact spots by name on its website; it marks them on the interactive terminal maps instead, because the precise positions shift with building works. In practice they are easy to find, signed, and within a short walk of each terminal entrance. If you want to see how the forecourts and terminals lay out before you travel, the airport map shows the whole site.

The single rule that matters: once you pass security, there is no way back to these areas without leaving and re-screening. So the smoking areas are really a before-security facility, not a during-your-wait one.

No. Heathrow is a smoke-free airport, and that extends to the entire airside area at every terminal. In Heathrow's own words, once you have gone through security you cannot smoke or vape anywhere on the premises. There are no smoking rooms, no airside terraces, and no exceptions for lounges.

This catches people out, because some older guides still mention airside smoking enclosures at Terminal 2 and Terminal 4. Those no longer apply: the current position is a blanket airside ban across T2, T3, T4 and T5. Treat any claim of a post-security smoking spot with caution.

The consequence is worth planning around. From the moment you join the security queue to the moment you land at your destination, you will not be able to smoke. On a long-haul flight from Heathrow that can be many hours, so time your last cigarette accordingly.

Vaping is treated exactly like smoking. E-cigarettes and vapes are allowed only in the same outdoor designated areas before security, and nowhere airside. That includes the toilets and the lounges, where vaping is not permitted despite being out of sight.

For carriage, the rule is firm: e-cigarettes and vapes go in your hand luggage, never in checked baggage, because lithium batteries are a fire risk in the hold. You cannot use them in flight on any airline. Carriage limits and spare-battery rules vary by carrier, so check your own airline before you travel. The wider hand-luggage picture is on the security and hand-luggage rules page.

The rule is the same at all four terminals: smoke or vape outside, before security, then nothing until you land. The only practical difference is where the outdoor points sit relative to each terminal entrance, and how long the walk back to security is once you have finished.

Terminal 2 and Terminal 3. Both sit in the central terminal area, so the outdoor points are on the departures forecourts and near the arrivals exits. Allow a few extra minutes to walk back in and rejoin the security queue, which can be long at peak.

Terminal 4. Separate from the central area on its own access road. The outdoor smoking points are outside the single terminal building, departures and arrivals levels.

Terminal 5. The newest and largest terminal, and the one where smokers most often get caught out, because the walk from the outdoor area through security to the satellite gates is long. Smoke on the departures level before you enter, or on the arrivals level near the taxi ranks. Leave a clear margin before your Terminal 5 security and gate time.

If you are connecting through Heathrow, the smoking areas are awkward to reach. Because they are all landside, you would have to clear UK passport control to leave the airside zone, smoke outside, then re-clear security to get back to your departure gate.

On a short connection that is not realistic, and most connecting passengers simply wait. On a long layover it can be done, but only if you have the time and the right to enter the UK; the round trip through passport control and back through security adds up. For most connections, plan for no smoking between your two flights.

Three things make the difference for a smoker or vaper flying from Heathrow.

Time the last cigarette. The clock that matters is the moment you join the security queue, not boarding. Once you are airside you are committed until you land. Check the typical security wait times for your terminal and have your last cigarette before you go in.

Carry a nicotine alternative. For a long-haul flight, patches, gum or pouches cover the hours airside and in the air where smoking and vaping are both banned. The airside shops sell some of these if you forget.

Do not try to vape in the toilets. The toilets and lounges have detectors and staff, and vaping is treated the same as smoking. The only legal place is outside, before security, at every terminal.