Denver International Airport has closed its last smoking lounge, joining nearly every other major U.S. airport as a smoke-free zone. The lease expired last week on the last area, the Smokin’ Bear Smoking Lounge.
That leaves only Atlanta, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City and Washington Dulles with operating spaces for smokers. Atlanta actually has 12, all built by Philip Morris at the time of the 1996 Olympics.
Officials at the airports where lounges continue aren’t looking to close them, either. They argue that they keep passengers from illegally smoking in restrooms, or from going outside to smoke and then having to re-clear security. But none of those seem to have become big problems at the hundreds of smoke-free terminals around the country.
