A New Zealand airport has been branded “inhumane” and sparked a global debate for putting a time limit on a very basic human emotion.
Dunedin, located in the southeast of the South Island of New Zealand, is one of the southernmost cities in the world.
It is known for its cold winters and general gloomy, cloud-covered climate, but its inhabitants have never been considered cold… until now.
This is all to blame for the shocking new three-minute hug limit at Dunedin airport.
The airport, which is located 27 kilometers further south of the city, has implemented strict measures in its drop-off area to avoid delays for passengers.
And just when private huggers thought the “maximum hug time: 3 minutes” sign couldn’t get any crueler, it adds: “For fonder farewells, use the parking lot.”
However, the response on social media has been mixed. ‘You can’t put a time limit on hugs! “That’s inhumane,” one wrote.
But another welcomed it and wants the policy expanded, writing “OMG the school drop-off lines need a similar sign (maximum hug time: 10 seconds).”
For others, the sign provoked deep thoughts. ‘This made me think…Who are the people I would hug for 3 minutes?’ “There are very few, mostly family and a dear long-time friend,” said one.
Dunedin airport in New Zealand has been branded “inhumane” for putting a time limit on a very basic human emotion (pictured)
A man is shown crying as he hugs his partner at an airport. Possibly because Dunedin Airport has put a three-minute time limit on hugs.
However, airport chief executive Daniel De Bono was unrepentant, telling Radio New Zealand that three minutes for a goodbye hug was enough.
De Bono said airports were “hotbeds of emotion” and pointed to a study that suggests a 20-second hug is enough to get a burst of oxytocin, the “love hormone.”
He said moving passengers quickly allows more people to get more hugs.
Some online commentators expressed shock that an airport still has a free drop-off area.
One UK commentator said Dunedin airport’s policy “shows warmth and compassion”.
“(At) my local airport it would be ‘you can’t stop there’. There’s a £100 fine if you stop and a £5 minimum to drop someone off in the drop-off area.”
Others saw the humorous side of the time limit, with one writing: ‘Now I can see the airport worker… 2:56, 2:57, 2:58, 2:59 Okay, time to finish!’
De Bono said part of the reason for the hugging curfew was because “our team has seen interesting things happen…over the years.”
The hugging study he referred to when saying that a 20-second hug was enough to trigger the oxytocin response in humans also found that “warm contact with a partner is related to lower cardiovascular reactivity.”
In layman’s terms, that means that a hug lowers your heart rate and calms you down.
The study did not investigate the effect on a person’s heart if they hug under a sign telling them to hurry up and move on.
