(Picture: Dunedin Airport)
An airport in New Zealand has put a time limit on farewell hugs and not everyone is happy about it.
New signs at Dunedin Airport’s drop-off zone warn: ‘Max hug time 3 minutes. For fonder farewells please use the car park.’
The airport, which lies on the east coast of the South Island, hopes the new rule will help keep traffic flowing and improve safety.
Dunedin Airport chief executive, Dan De Bono, told national broadcaster Radio New Zealand that the usual warning messages at drop-off zones can be ‘quite intense’ and include threats to clamp wheels or impose fines.
He hopes the hug warning is a more gentle and light-hearted way to remind people not to linger.
‘We’re trying to have fun with it. It is an airport and those drop-off locations are common locations for farewells,’ Dan explained.
He said there had been issues with people staying parked for too long.
‘There’s no space left for others,’ he added. ‘It’s about enabling others to have hugs.’
Dan said that the farewells sometimes got rather intense.
‘Airports are hotbeds of emotion … our staff have seen some interesting things over the years.’
The new rule has ’caused quite a stir’, Dan acknowledged, with hundreds weighing in on Facebook.
One poster described it as ‘inhumane’, while another wrote: ‘Let humans be humans. We aren’t robots without any emotions.’
A third said: ‘Really getting to a point where every aspect of life is being monitored and checked, next thing will be you have to use a Q R Code to go to the bathroom.’
But several people praised the airport’s approach.
One posted: ‘Great idea, after all most people are being dropped off by someone in their own household so they have plenty of time to say their goodbyes at home.’
The person added: ‘They are going on a plane flight not off to war.’
Another wrote: ‘Absolutely love this! But who hugs for 3 minutes???’
While a third posted: ‘If any farewell is longer than 3 minutes, they should get a room.’
Dan said there will not be a special hug unit to enforce the rule, but staff may politely ask those lingering too long to move into the car park.
He added: ‘We’re not here to tell people how long they should hug for, it’s more the message of please move on and provide space for others.’
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