Smoky skies.

Byline: The Register-Guard

You've seen them outside the entrances to airports: smokers hot-boxing one last cigarette before boarding a long flight. Soon those desperate souls may not have to endure nicotine withdrawal. A German businessman is preparing to launch an airline for smokers. The airline - Smoker's International, or Smintair for short - is evidence of a successful international campaign to make air travel smoke-free.

Smintair's founder, who smokes 30 cigarettes a day, hopes to begin daily service between Dusseldorf and Japan next year, at prices comparable to those charged for first-class tickets on other airlines. He may be right in thinking there's a market - it's a 12-hour flight from Germany to Japan, and both countries have high percentages of smokers among their populations.

It wasn't that long ago that cigarette smoke was a routine accompaniment to commercial air travel. The United States didn't ban smoking on all domestic flights until 1988. Smoking continued on many international flights until 2000. Now most nations ban smoking aboard planes, and even where government bans are not in effect, the airlines generally forbid passengers to light up. These days, it's hard to imagine an airline allowing passengers to ignite small tubes of flammable material aboard airplanes.

Smintair's pushback, then, is proof of a dramatic shrinkage in smokers' space. If it succeeds, however, the flight attendants, pilots and nonsmoking family members who will fly the smoky skies deserve a sympathetic thought. But at least the Smintair terminal will always be easy to find - just follow your nose.