FAQ : Smoking facilities for BA travellers at LHR
Jun 22, 2019, 5:59 pm
#1
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FAQ : Smoking facilities for BA travellers at LHR
Travelling LBA - LHR - ARN this summer and one of my party is a smoker.
Searching the web, I see that there are only smoking areas landside and outside at T5, is that correct?
If our smoker goes landside to smoke, should they be sure to return airside within a specific time before the flight to ARN? I’m concerned about them / their bags being off-loaded by “the system”.
Thanks for any advice on this.
Searching the web, I see that there are only smoking areas landside and outside at T5, is that correct?
If our smoker goes landside to smoke, should they be sure to return airside within a specific time before the flight to ARN? I’m concerned about them / their bags being off-loaded by “the system”.
Thanks for any advice on this.
Jun 22, 2019, 6:28 pm
#2
Join Date: Jun 2008
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Yes. If they go landside they will have to make the usual security conformance of 35 minutes - that’s pretty hard and fast so if their boarding card isn’t scanned into the security channel by that point they will not be allowed to proceed. On the plus side, you won’t have someone stinking of stale smoke next to you! 
Jun 22, 2019, 6:52 pm
#4
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I'm sure T8191 will be along shortly as he has quite a bit of experience with this, but I believe he uses the bus shelter at the south end of T5 and as noted by ScotsAl that will want to allow plenty of time in order to meet conformance.
Jun 22, 2019, 7:12 pm
#5
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Hardly worth the hassle and I speak as someone who smokes cigarettes, a pipe as well as cohibas....not all at the same time of course. I have survived many hours without a puff at T5 although I admit that's more down to my non smoking wife giving me orders more than the restrictions in place. The complimentary booze and food in the lounges does help keep my mind off it. 😀
Jun 23, 2019, 1:24 am
#6
Join Date: Mar 2019
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Stick a few nicotine patches on them and they should be good to go. Nothing worse than sitting next to someone on a long journey who smells of stale smoke; be that train, plane or bus. Fortunately with LHR smoking restrictions it's not often someone does smell too strong. Some airports that have smoking lounges by the gate can make a miserable flight home!
Jun 23, 2019, 1:38 am
#7
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In the LBA to ARN direction it's fairly straightforward since though you have to go landside, and there is an unnecessary extra security scan, these days HAL really seems to have got rid of delays there, particularly for customers starting their trip at LHR, which your fellow passenger would effectively be doing. There is an official smokers' shelter at the South end popular with ground and cabin crew but that's at the wrong end of the building. So if it's for a quick puff I would go out at the North end, where is a fair bit of unofficial smoking going on just past the Sofitel and bus stops. Then up the lifts to North departures.
No-one's baggage gets loaded at T5 until they pass Ready to Fly. In your case this would be when your boarding pass is scanned just before you go up to the main departure level in T5, in the case of the smoker it would be at the gates to security T5. So long as s/he did that by T-35, both the passenger and the bags will make the flight. If you have an extra 10 minutes or so, then it's pretty safe (relatively speaking) to do this.
No-one's baggage gets loaded at T5 until they pass Ready to Fly. In your case this would be when your boarding pass is scanned just before you go up to the main departure level in T5, in the case of the smoker it would be at the gates to security T5. So long as s/he did that by T-35, both the passenger and the bags will make the flight. If you have an extra 10 minutes or so, then it's pretty safe (relatively speaking) to do this.
Jun 23, 2019, 1:41 am
#8
Join Date: Mar 2009
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Not that I'm a smoker myself, but there is a whole area of FT devoted to Smoking Lounges!
Jun 23, 2019, 1:52 am
#9
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Not a bus shelter as such, but a dedicated smoking shelter. Populated by a lot of CC having a last puff before boarding themselves!
Jun 24, 2019, 1:15 am
#12
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Edit never mind I guess this is on land side!
Last edited by W213Sal; Jun 24, 2019 at 1:30 am
Jun 24, 2019, 7:51 am
#13
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Yes, sadly landside. One shelter at each end of the drop-off zone outside T5, as far from the rest of humanity as possible. There are other permissive zones along kerbside, obviously well away from the doors into the Terminal.