Airport Puts Time Limit on Hugging

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.)