[Charles-P]

LuganoPirate – I share your enjoyment of a good cigar but like you don’t need them every day, in fact I often go months between them.

Having never been a cigarette smoker I can’t imagine the hell of needing that fix and having it denied. When I see the little plastic Winston rooms at Frankfurt with line after line of unhappy people puffing away I realise I’m not missing much.

This of course contrasts with my experiences of flying in the 1970’s when trips home to Rhodesia from school in UK were on BOAC aircraft where it seemed about half the aircraft pax were smoking.

[stevescoots]

I am also an addict, but the odd thing is the moment i step on board i get zero craving, no matter how long the flight….until passed immgration then strait out for a puff!

[MrDarwin]

I’ve smoked for a long time now, and almost exclusively fly long haul for business and a mix of long and short haul for leisure. For me, part of the habit is the physical addiction to nicotine, and the other is environmental/situational.

As I’ve never smoked on a plane before, I don’t associate flying with smoking. I rarely actually feel like a cigarette when on a plane, and if I do get a passing pang of nicotine lust, I can’t smoke anyway so I just think what’s the point of feeling like a cigarette and go back to enjoying a movie etc.

I wouldn’t ever choose to fly to Aus or NZ via the US. I have always chosen stops where I know they have smoking facilities – Dubai and Doha have them in the lounge, Singapore outside in the lovely cactus garden where you can enjoy a cold beer in the sweaty climate and Hong Kong those terrible little rooms…. I’m sure there are many more. It’s beyond me why airport can’t provide such facilities. Even Heathrow has an airside smoking area in T4 now.

That said – I have committed to moving away from tobacco and onto e-cigs later this week in my first attempt at giving up, so perhaps smoking lounges in airports won’t be as important for me in the future, but I’ll still respect why they are important to others.

[MrMichael]

Good luck Mr Darwin. A few posters have explained the importance to them of the availability of a smoking facility in transit. I too am an addict, haven give up loads of times though! I transit through Frankfurt often, one of the reasons is I know I can have a quick puff in the stinky smoking lounge. Glad to see that LHR T4 has finally got one, but all LHR terminals need one if they want maximum transit pax. How many people are LHR/BA/Virgin missing out on due to lack of smoking rooms at LHR, people going via Frankfurt for a quick Smoko.

[MrDarwin]

Thanks MrMichael – I need all the encouragement I can get.

I think the funniest smoking room I ever experienced was in Thiruvananthapuram airport in Kerala. Customary to Indian security, all lighters are confiscated at security. In the smoking room (big enough to accommodate no more than 10 people), they had a light switch on the wall next to an exposed element – you just turned on the switch, the element heated up and hey presto – you had a lit cigarette (or electrocution or burns, depending on your technique).

[MartynSinclair]

Putting my anti smoking views to one side, I find it incredibly sad, that smokers need to route certain flights via airports with smoking rooms.

A serious question to those that do, would you still route via a “smoking airport” if the route was either longer or more expensive that a n other route?

[MrMichael]

To clarify I have never routed for the sake of a nicotine hit, although I do like routing through Frankfurt if that’s an option. I have done London to Oz on a number of occasions, and personally am happy to have a sneaky suck on my inhalator machine. I was just pointing that some like an earlier poster will choose a route based on smoking room availability.

Recently in Egypt (SSH)my lighter was confiscated and then they pointed out the smoking room!

[AviationGeek]

AlextheGreat, LuganoPirate, the reason for ash trays in new aircraft is that it’s a legal requirement.
Aviation regulators require ash trays to be fitted so any lit cigarette can be safely be disposed of. As all waste bins on board state “No cigarette disposal” (fire hazard) the ash trays would do the job. Not that sneaky smokers ever use them…

[BA4ever]

Turkish is known for even allowing passengers to smoke, so it doesn’t surprise me if the pilots are smoking. After all, they are the bosses.

To reply to the question about ashtrays in new aircrafts, a member of staff told me that they must have them so that those who break the law and smoke anyway, will not put their fags out in the trash!!!

Personally, I fully understand a person who would plan a route based on smoking. I for instance have no willing to fly outside Europe because I’d hate to oppress myself for something that is supposed to be fun.

[LuganoPirate]

I was a heavy smoker smoking about two packets a day but gave up from one day to the next about 40 years ago and not touched a ciggie since. I also cannot say how it must feel as in those days you could smoke almost anywhere, even on the underground so the deprivation factor never entered into the equation.

Thanks for the answer re the ashtrays. I’d say that was almost Pavlovian!

[BA4ever]

You are welcome. I was rather curious myself, hence I asked. I happened to fly with a brand new aircraft and couldn’t help but wonder why the signs and ashtrays.
I guess that people will never seize to amaze us, in a good or a bad way. It’s been 5 days since this flight and I still think about it!

[pointyendpreferred]

When I was a cabin manager and realised someone was smoking, I made the following PA:
“Ladies and Gentlemen, Someone has been smoking in the toilets. As you know this is dangerous, illegal and plain stupid. We have been in the air for 5 hours. If you notice that that another passenger suddenly smells of cigarette smoke, please let the cabin crew know and we will be happy to hand them over to the authorities on arrival.”
End of problem.

Of course, we would check the toilet bins because that is where they dispose of the butts and can easily start a fire onboard. A terrifying thought.

[BA4ever]

I wish crew had asked us to investigate…

[TMConsulting]

@MartynSinclair, on chosing a longer/more expensive route “just for smoking”…

Few month ago I started planning my end of your trip to NZ again. I decided to change from my usual habits and try something new… plans were then ZRH (LX) SFO (NZ) AKL (NZ) SHA (LX) GVA… all business and quite attractive fare.

but then… changed everything, for an extra 15% in price and slightly longer route (total travel time, although very similar in flight time):

Main reasons were 1) no shower at the UA lounge in SFO (and this is a must), 2) could not upgrade one of the LX flight to First since not a Senator (stupid rule) and then… realised I would probably not have enough time to leave SFO terminal for a cigarette…

Now, I will pay more for sort of a longer trip but the main reasons is actually not (primarly) based on smoking. My flight will be ZRH (LX) SHA (NZ) AKL (NZ) SIN (SQ) ZRH. Reasons are:

1) I NEED to try the longhaul Business on Swiss
2) I REALLY WANT to try out AirNZ’s new 787 (which only flies SHA-AKL)
3) I will be on AirNZ’s inaugural AKL-SIN flight and can connect with SQ for the SIN-ZRH since the launch of their new “partnership”.

On top of that, I know there will be showers available in SHA and SIN lounge AND I’ve a chance to smoke.

So, in short, I’ll first chose the airline based on service and comfort, then plan sufficient time half way to refresh, energize and allow a little nicotine intake and THEN look at the price…

In a way, yes I would pay more/travel longer for smoking but not just and only for that.

[MrDarwin]

@MartynSinclair I’ve got a similar view to TMConsulting, the only time I really consider smoking facilities is on the super long haul kangaroo route to Aus. It never works out cheaper to fly via the US in any case, and as these trips in J are self funded, price is important. But so is quality – I’d rather pay a little extra to fly with Cathay, Qatar or Emirates as I feel the extra amount paid gives a greater sense of value than say flying Air India or China Southern.

So does the ability to smoke affect the routing and price paid? I guess it does, a little, but it’s not the only consideration and any price difference would have to be deemed reasonable.

In any case, there are many safe options for smokers to alleviate nicotine withdrawal issues on long haul flights and there is no excuse for smoking on planes.

[Author]

Posts