Airport Sets Smoke-Free Deadline Ban Enforced in Main Complex Starting April 1
Emma Poole, Calgary Herald
December 12, 2006
It's no joke - as of April Fool's Day, travelers hoping to get a last-minute tobacco fix before taking off from Calgary's airport will have to do so outside the main complex.
Officials with the Calgary Airport Authority said Monday the building - including bars and restaurants - will go smoke-free April 1. Airports where smoking is permitted are very much in the minority. We now join the majority, said spokesman Bryce Paton. Between now and April 1, we'll be determining some place outside for people to smoke .
Paton said smoking rooms, including the glass enclosures near departure gates, will be disassembled and turned into regular waiting areas. Special smoking rooms in several restaurants will return to regular seating. It's actually going to be saving us money, when you consider janitorial services and cleanup, said Paton.
In October, city council voted to implement an indoor public smoking ban on Jan. 1 a year earlier than planned. An exception to the revised bylaw allows establishments that have built ventilated smoking rooms to continue offering a smoking environment in 2007. Bingos and casinos were also given a one-year reprieve.
All businesses, including bingos and casinos, will have to abide by the bylaw beginning in 2008. Since airports fall under federal legislation, the Calgary International Airport was not obligated to adhere to the city rules. The decision to go smoke-free had more to do with public opinion and societal trends, said Paton.
Anti-smoking groups said the airport is just one in a long list of facilities that are listening to public opinion by butting out. Im very, very impressed with the airport, said Linette Soldan, co-chairwoman of the advocacy group Smoke-Free Calgary. It's really cool for them to take the lead.
Soldan suggested the airport adopt the city's policy of preventing smoking within three meters of any door to the building.
Calgary Airport to go Smoke-Free
Airport officials opt to forbid tobacco use in its buildings effective April 1
By BILL KAUFMANN, CALGARY SUN
December 11, 2006
Calgarys International Airport will be above the cigarette clouds next year.
Despite a federal jurisdiction that exempted it from the citys Jan. 1, 2007 public smoking ban, airport officials have opted to forbid tobacco use in its buildings effective April 1. That will include five externally-ventilated smoking terminal/concourse lounges and several tobacco-use sections in restaurants, said airport spokesman Bryce Paton. Given the trend in airports and societal trends, we felt it was timely, but were still giving a three-month lead-up, said Paton.
There was also a concern, he said, over smoke escaping from the enclosed sections and with cleaning.
In some ways, the action will actually take full effect sooner than the wider Calgary one, which has given casinos, bingo parlours and bars already with separate smoking rooms one years grace. Outdoor areas will be provided for smokers, said Paton.
But they wont be located in high-traffic pedestrian areas and not in proximity to doors, he said. Linette Soldan, co-chair of Smoke Free Calgary, said the airport is taking the lead among its Canadian counterparts, in contrast to the city lagged in bringing in wider tobacco bans behind other centres. Theyre pretty much leaders right now - they appear to be well aware of the dangers of second-hand smoke, said Soldan, whos also with the Canadian Cancer Society.
Other cities airports will be taking a look. She said Edmonton International Airport, for one, has yet to make a smoke-free commitment even though that city took the plunge in the summer of 2005. Commercial aircraft have long hewed to a no-puffing policy while tampering with lavatory smoke detectors is a federal offence.
Calgary Airport Goes Smoke-Free April 1st, 2007
Dec, 11 2006 - 5:20 PM
CALGARY/AM770CHQR
Smokers used to having that last puff before boarding a plane at Calgary International Airport won't like this.
The Calgary Airport Authority's Bryce Paton says starting April 1st, Calgary International will be entirely smoke-free.
He says the majority of major airports in Canada have already banned smoking. Paton explains there were fewer people using smoking-designated facilities, while demand has increased for non-smoking lounge and departure seating. He admits the decision won't sit well with everyone, namely those who enjoy having one last cigarette pre-flight.
Calgary Airport going smoke free
Dec, 12 2006 - 12:20 AM
CALGARY/630 CHED
There won't be any cloud cover at the Calgary International Airport starting next spring - at least not inside the building.
Officials have opted to follow the city's public smoking ban, even though federal jurisdiction exempts the airport from having to follow the Calgary bylaw. The city is going smoke-free in public areas Jan. 1. The airport is giving smokers needing a quick fix before their flights a bit of time to get used to the new rules, however. The smoking ban doesn't go into effect at the airport until April. Even areas in the terminal that previously allowed smoking will have to wipe out the weed. They include externally ventilated smoking terminals, concourse lounges and smoking sections in restaurants, said airport spokesman Bryce Paton.
