A New Zealand airport has limited goodbye hugs at drop-off to just three minutes, and the sign’s photo has sparked a debate about proper farewell etiquette at departures. What do our Globe Aware volunteers think? Is three minutes a luxury or inhumane?

New Zealand airport bans farewell hugs longer than three minutes

A sign at drop-off suggests those looking for ‘fonder farewells’ should use the car park

Natalie Wilson
October16, 2024
Independent

An airport in New Zealand has banned prolonged goodbye hugs at drop-off – with last embraces restricted to just three minutes.

The sign at Dunedin Airport reads “max hug time 3 minutes” and suggests, “for fonder farewells please use the car park”.

A picture of the message shared on Facebook to ‘The view from my window’ group last Wednesday sparked great debate on appropriate farewell etiquette at departures.

One group member commented: “I love it. It shows warmth and compassion. My local airport it would be ‘you can’t stop there’ – there’s a £100 fine if you stop and a minimum £5.00 to drop someone off in the drop-off zone. I love Nice airport – they have ‘Kiss and Fly’.”

Another said the time limit was “inhumane” and insisted “You can’t put a time limit on hugs”

“In America, they don’t even want you to stop. Just come to a slow roll and push your passenger out,” added a social media user from the US.

The thought of a three-minute hug had others reeling.

“This got me thinking…. Who are the people I would hug for 3 minutes? There are a very few, mostly family, and a dear long-time friend. But in spite of the humor of this sign, it’s something to think about. Life is short,” shared one man.

More than a third of major UK airports have raised drop-off fees for drivers in the past year, according to RAC research.

In July, the RAC found that seven out of 20 airports analysed have raised so-called “kiss and fly” charges – which are typically levied for dropping off someone as close to a terminal as possible – since last summer.

The four that increased fees by £1 were Gatwick (which now charges £6 for 10 minutes), Edinburgh (£5 for 10 minutes), Birmingham (£5 for 15 minutes) and Bristol (£6 for 10 minutes).