Airport Puts Time Limit on Hugging

Drop-off zone in New Zealand suggests taking it to the parking lot after that
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 20, 2024 2:20 PM CDT
3 Minutes Is Enough Hugging, Airport Decides
A couple embraces outside Philadelphia International Airport in July.   (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Airports are "hotbeds of emotion," the CEO of Dunedin Airport in New Zealand said in explaining an effort to keep everyone calm. The airport has put up a sign in a passenger drop-off zone announcing that the "max hug time" is three minutes, CNN reports. "For fonder farewells please use the car park," the sign suggests. Daniel De Bono said a study has shown that a hug as brief as 20 seconds, well under the new max, can get the "love hormone" oxytocin going.

The airport isn't prohibiting long hugs everywhere. The parking lot allows 15-minute stays free of charge, so presumably huggers could indulge the whole time. The CEO said "our team have seen interesting things go on … over the years" in the lot. Keeping vehicles moving through the drop-off zone allows more people to collect more hugs, De Bono said. The online debate included one person on Facebook wondering "Who are the people I would hug for 3 minutes?" The user couldn't come up with many, per WION. Another poster praised the French approach to the issue: "I love Nice airport—they have 'Kiss and Fly.'" (More airports stories.)

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