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Belfast airport now charging for smoking
Belfast International Airport has introduced a new charge. After deciding to charge people £1 ($1.64) to drop off passengers and £1 for a clear plastic bag to put liquids in, now passengers are going to be charged £1 to use the smoking areas.Airport officials defend the charges saying it costs them extra to maintain separate smoking areas, which are used only by a minority of the passengers.
Smokers will have to insert a pound coin into a coin slot to open the doors to the smoking area. Do you think this is fair? Take the poll below or sound off in the comments section!
[Photo courtesy Piotrus via Wikimedia Commons]
| Yes, these areas cost extra and smokers should pay for them. | |
|---|---|
| No, why should smokers pay extra? |
Filed under: Europe, Ireland, United Kingdom, Transportation, Airports, News, Travel Health
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
JD May 7th 2011 1:48PM
When will we finally get to a matured state of existence where tobacco smoking is no longer permitted anywhere, period. Its nasty, disgusting, unsafe, stupid, and shows just how slow our society grows and learns.
I notice it mostly on vacation - cruises are horrible about smoking..
johnmc May 7th 2011 7:17PM
Charging for smoking makes a lot more sense than charging to drop people off.
dann May 7th 2011 7:17PM
I would rather smokers pay a £ to use one of these self contained ventilation units than my lungs pay the price for their enjoyment.
Karen McAleenan May 8th 2011 8:17AM
I think it's about time they at least acknowledge that smokers have a modicum of rights. Smoking is not illegal and the fact that an area that is self contained protecting others is a good compromise. Charging for it is just another way for airlines to make some money and if smokers want to smoke they will pay the price - at least they have a choice.
fra59e May 8th 2011 8:18AM
Sorry, Karen. You are misinformed. Smoking is not a right, not at any time. not in any place, not even in your own home. Smoking is just a personal habit, like chewing your nails or picking your nose. Nobody else wants to watch you do it or smell your wastes. Best go home and lock the bathroom door and smoke where nobody sees you and the bathroom fan carries your stink away.
cook May 8th 2011 9:49AM
As a former smoker, I can appreciate the extreme urge. While far fewer folks smoke these days, finding a safe (legal?) spot in a huge, international airport can be a challenge. As much as simply not smoking is the best course, offering a PAID space for that pre-boarding fix IS a reasonable service. Some will use it now and over time the need (we hope) will fade. Is it a reasonable service in those thousand-acre airports that are otherwise non-smoking venues? Best guess is yes. I don't, but I used to and I understand how awful it can be. At least for a few years, let those paid spaces fly. -C.
Paul Griffin May 9th 2011 12:16PM
As we smokers are getting our own little space away from the rest of the public, I'm not as annoyed about this as I might have been wneh I first though the chaarge was simply for smoking in a desiganted corraled off area outside. Question is how long do you get for your pound and could somehow simply pay their money to hog the thing until their flight is called?