Max hug time three minutes’: New Zealand airport goes viral for limiting goodbyes
The airport’s CEO says hugs lasting longer than three minutes are “really awkward”.
Airports and emotional farewells go hand-in-hand, but one hub in New Zealand is cracking down on public displays of affection.
Travellers leaving the New Zealand city of Dunedin have been told there’s now a three-minute time limit on goodbye hugs in the airport's drop-off area, intended to prevent lingering cuddles from causing traffic jams.
Outside the terminal, signs read: “Max hug time three minutes,” adding that those seeking “fonder farewells” should head to the airport’s car park instead, where they’ll be given a generous 15 minutes to say goodbye to their loved ones.
Despite some criticism on social media, with people calling the move “inhumane”, the airport’s CEO is standing by his decision.
The anti-hug signs are meant as a gentler alternative to those at other airports warning of wheel clamping or fines for drivers parked in drop-off areas.
At some hubs in the UK, there are imposed fees for all drop-offs - however brief.
Dunedin's airport, though, a modest terminal serving a city of 135,000 people on New Zealand's South Island, prefers 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.”
Source : https://www.euronews.com/travel/2024/10/22/max-hug-time-three-minutes-new-zealand-airport-goes-viral-for-limiting-goodbyes |