Why Planes Have Ashtrays Even Though Smoking’s Banned

But recently, I’ve been wondering about what I always saw as a baffling on-board artefact: aeroplane ashtrays.

Even though the UK has banned smoking on flights since 1997, it’s not uncommon to find a metal ashtray in the loo of your plane.

In fact, regulators like the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) require an ashtray on board. And in 2009, a British Airways flight was reportedly delayed because staff couldn’t replace a missing ashtray ― years after the smoking ban.

I reckon teachers, nurses, retail workers, and anyone who deals with the public at large will already know the answer: people love to break rules.

Robert Joslin, an associate professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s College of Aviation, told The Washington Post that “Smoking’s not allowed, but we know it’s happening” on board.

In Japan, the publication added, there were 429 reports of in-flight smoking in 2025.

After the 2009 delay, a British Airways spokesperson said: “It is a legal requirement, under air navigation orders, to have ashtrays because while smoking is not permitted on flights, if someone were to light a cigarette on board there must be somewhere to safely extinguish it”.

This is still the rule with some regulatory bodies. But even those who have changed policy might not have changed the layout of many planes.

But they added that “most large aircrafts flying today were certified under earlier rules which still require an ashtray”.

Getting rid of it would count as a design change, they continued, which would need formal approval.

So while some new planes don’t have to have ashtrays, those which already do (and most do) can’t get rid of them without some hassle.

A fire on a 1973 flight tragically led to the deaths of 123 passengers; later investigations found the source was likely a discarded cigarette butt.

And in 1983, 23 passengers died due to a fire in the toilet of another plane. Investigations didn’t prove for sure what caused the disaster, but one of the possible reasons cited was a cigarette in the bathroom.

After that, Simple Flying shared, rules regarding things like flame-proof bins, smoke alarms, and ashtrays changed.