So much for fond farewells and lingering goodbyes. Dunedin Airport in New Zealand has introduced a strict rule for their passenger departure drop-off zone — capping “hug time” at three minutes with those seeking more time told to move along so as not to obstruct traffic.
The signs specify “max hug time 3 minutes” at the New Zealand airport and direct those looking for longer exchanges to use the carpark.
Dunedin Airport chief executive Dan De Bono said the signs were used because the airport’s management was trying to have “fun” and avoid “intense” messaging that threatened people with fines or other punishment for congesting traffic, SBS News Australia reports.
“It’s caused quite a stir, we’ve got quite a bit of a conversation going,” De Bono said. “It’s really about enabling enough space for others to have hugs.”
De Bono said despite many jokes on social media suggesting otherwise, there were no punishments for passengers who exceeded the hug limit.
“All our team do is ask them politely move onto the carpark to create some space for others — it’s nothing more than that, we’re not going to call the ‘hug police.'”
The signs were meant as an alternative to those at other airports warning of wheel clamping or fines for drivers parked in drop-off areas. Some in Britain have imposed fees for all drop-offs — however brief.
Dunedin’s airport — a modest terminal serving a city of 135,000 people on New Zealand’s South Island — preferred a “quirky” approach, De Bono said.
Three minutes was “plenty of time to pull up, say farewell to your loved ones and move on,” he added. “The time limit is really a nicer way of saying, you know, get on with it.”
A 20-second hug is long enough to release the wellbeing-boosting hormones oxytocin and serotonin, De Bono said. Anything longer was “really awkward.”