Mlive: Detroit airport considers opening indoor smoke lounge

Michigan’s largest airport could be opening a cigar lounge.

Detroit Metropolitan Airport is seeking proposals for a bar lounge concept with food, retail cigars and an enclosed cigar smoking area, according to the Wayne County Airport Authority (WCAA).

Proposals for the space in the McNamara Terminal will have to include a state-of-the-art air handling and ventilation systems, as well as facility design to reduce smoke exposure to non-lounge visitors.

A request for proposals was released Oct. 1 with a deadline set in January.

The move to add a cigar lounge has been met by some opposition, however, from the nonprofit advocacy group, Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANR). The group said travelers shouldn’t have to be exposed to secondhand smoke exposure while traveling in and out of Detroit’s airport.

Cynthia Hallett, ANR’s president and CEO, said the airport authority is ignoring public health officials, advocates and concerned community members who have spoken out against the proposal.

“It is clear now that WCAA had no respect for public opinion or concern for public health, and we are extremely disappointed to see that millions of travelers will now have to face the consequences,” Hallett said in a prepared statement.

A survey of 600 Michigan residents with a margin of error of 4%, conducted in June by Lansing-based EPIC-MRA, found 77% of respondents opposed opening a cigar bar at Detroit Metro Airport. The survey’s margin of error was 4%.

The airport authority said it prioritizes the health and safety of all employees, customers and visitors at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Its idea to add the lounge was developed in response to interest from the community and local businesses, “especially as it relates to the international nature of the airport.”

Indoor smoking is completely banned in all but four airports in the country, according to ANR. Those that do allow it include Harry Reid International in Las Vegas, Miami International, Nashville International, and Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International.

Airports in Virginia and Atlanta recently went completely smoke-free.

Michigan adopted a law banning smoking in most indoor places in 2010. Among the exceptions are cigar bars, tobacco specialty retail stores, and gaming floors of casinos.