Govt to remove smoking zones from all airports: Mahbub Ali

The government will take measures to remove the smoking zones from all the airports as part of the government's goals to build a tobacco-free country by 2040, State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism M Mahbub Ali told parliament today.

"Necessary measures will be taken for removal of all designated places for smoking at all the airports of the country," the junior minister said in reply to a query from Awami League MP Habibe Millat.

In a scripted answer, the state minister also said the government has also taken an initiative to make residential rooms of hotels and motels completely free from smoking in phases.

There are separate rooms for smokers inside the terminal buildings of international airports to save non-smokers from passive smoking, he said.