This question came up on a thread in the Lounge yesterday, as an aside to the topic of Reclining/Not reclining seats.

I'm not a smoker and it seems to me that it must be something like 20 years since the last of the international carriers banned it. I know it has been banned on all planes in Australia for ages, but I haven't done enough internal flying in other countries to know what the rule is in some of the less regulated areas.

Google throws up some info from 2011 that seems to suggest few if any international carriers allow it.

So I thought I'd ask the experts over here.

Thanks all.

There are no USA carriers allowing it.As someone who works as a flight attendant, I think that due to codeshares,etc. most airlines would not allow it.
Ironically, there are flight attendants who never smoked who are being diagnosed with lung cancer-those flights from decades ago were absolutely horrible to work so no surprise on whats happening!

Thanks duty free. It must have been appalling to have to work in that smelly, smoky atmosphere. It was bad enough being a passenger - everything I wore or took as a carry on was saturated with the odor & it took a very thorough scrub to get it out of my hair & skin.

Apart from the health benefits - I'm delighted not to travel in or arrive smelling like, a portable ashtray.

Do you happen to know when the US banned it, and did they ban international & domestic at the same time?

Bokara2,

All it really takes is one click on google for the answer.

http://www.nytimes.com/1988/04/17/us...hts-in-us.html

I love the point where big tobacco says it's an intrusion on individual rights.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_year_...ed_on_aircraft

Thanks Rastaguy, but I was really looking for info in a wider scale than just the US.

I don't think any airlines allow it now but I remember in the past a lot of airlines would ban smoking except on flights to Japan.

The last smoking flight I recall, was when I flew on KLM around 1996 from Hong Kong to Amsterdam. I did hear a story of a passenger in China who had a non-smoking seat and immediately after take-off the 2 passengers either side of him started to smoke, when he inquired to the hostie she said that's correct, they are in smoking seats and you're in a non-smoking seat

>big tobacco says it's an intrusion on individual rights.<

That's funny, I always thought smokers infringed on my individual rights to breathe clean air..........

I was one of those who was doing the happy dance when airlines (and all of the restaurants in my home state) prohibited smoking!

In 2007 I took a domestic Egyptian flight from Aswan to Abu Simbel and the smoky smell was awful. I don't remember the name of the airline but I don't think it was Egypt Air. It brought back memories of the no-so-good old days when all flights were so bad.

Thank God it was only a 30 minute flight.

I remember as an eleven year old not being able to see down the aisle of an Avianca flight due to the smoke. It really was that bad.

No wonder I have such bad asthma. And I never smoked.

In Florida, you can still smoke in a bar as long as they don't serve food. Florida is years behind Europe.

BAck in the day, PSA Airlines had one side of the aisle for smoking and the other for not. Really great when a guy lit up a cigar.

As a former flight attendant with AMERICAN...I was uncomfortable smoking around others who gave me hateful stares.

Now my rich boyfriend in London just sends me his private jet & I can smoke and drink ALL I WANT anywhere I want to fly.

Life is good.

Even thought it was a non-smoking flight, I'm pretty sure I smelled smoke on a Pegasus flight from Istanbul to Tirana last year.