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An airport in New Zealand has banned goodbye hugs at drop-off that last more than three minutes, telling offenders to “use the car park.”
The unusual rule has led to much debate on social media since a picture of the warning message to travelers and their companions was shared to Facebook last week.
“Max hug time 3 minutes,” a sign at Dunedin Airport reads. “For fonder farewells please use the car park.”
Dunedin Airport chief executive Dan De Bono was asked about the signs by Radio New Zealand and confessed that he too is “a hugger.”
“We’re trying to have fun with it. It is an airport and those drop off locations are common locations for farewells,” he told Radio New Zealand.
“There’s no space left for others. It’s about enabling others to have hugs.”
He is aware that the sign could be misconstrued, however.
“You can’t put a time limit on hugs!” one popular comment on Facebook read. “That’s inhumane.”
“OMG school drop off lines need a similar sign (Max hug time 10 sec),” read another comment that was far less critical.
“You get 3 minutes to hug??” someone else asked in the comments, then pointed out, “In America, they don’t even want you to stop. Just come to a slow roll and push your passenger out. I’m serious.”
New Zealand’s Dunedin Airport has introduced a limit of 3 minutes for goodbye hugs in its drop off zone. Airport CEO Daniel De Bono defended the move with study suggesting a 20-second hug is enough to get a burst of the ‘love hormone’ oxytocin. He must be fun at parties. pic.twitter.com/R667jtAN1P
— RT (@RT_com) October 21, 2024
“We were accused of breaching basic human rights and how dare we limit how long someone can have a hug for,” he told the Associated Press.
“The time limit is really a nicer way of saying, you know, get on with it.”
De Bono also claimed any airport good bye hugs lasting longer than 20 seconds becomes “really awkward,” but added that Dunedin Airport does “not have hug police.”
On the plus side, Michael Banissy, head of psychological science at the University of Bristol told NBC News that three minutes the airport is allowing for good bye hugs “should provide enough of a window to facilitate the release of hormones that contribute to these health and well-being benefits.”