It’s a scene so commonplace that there’s a whole movie themed around it. Witness an emotional airport farewell (or reunion), and it’s hard not to think of 2003’s blockbuster romcom, Love Actually. In a world filled with doom and gloom, the film’s opening voiceover encourages us to see airport greetings as proof that love actually is all around us, not hate. Released two years after 2001’s Twin Tower attacks, the Richard Curtis Christmas flick was in some ways an homage to a horror-struck aviation sector and its ability to bring us closer together.
But 21 years later, air passengers bidding Haere rā (goodbye in Māori ) to loved ones at one New Zealand airport will from now on have to keep their feelings under control, since the introduction of a time limit on farewells.
Three is the magic number
Dunedin Airport on New Zealand’s South Island has erected signs telling passengers at its drop-off zone that they must keep their goodbyes to a maximum of just three minutes. “Max hug time 3 minutes,” the blue and white information panels say, adding “for fonder farewells, please use the car park.”
And you think they're not out to control you?
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Visitors to the airport in Dunedin, New Zealand, are now limited to a 3-minute hug. The airport head explained that research indicates only 20 seconds are needed for the release of "love hormone" during a hug. pic.twitter.com/QPSzk37m8z
Speaking to RNZ radio, the airport’s chief executive, Daniel De Bono, recognised that airports are indeed “hotbeds of emotion”. He also made the rather tongue-in-cheek confession that “our team have seen interesting things go on … over the years.” But joking aside, long, drawn-out goodbyes have a negative impact on the smooth functioning of airport services, De Bono said, adding that, according to scientists, even just a 20-second hug is enough to release oxytocin in the body, known as the “love hormone”.
If passengers really need more time, the airport provides 15-minutes free parking in its car park, De Bono went on to point out.
Inhumane tyranny or equal opportunity solution?
In the first month since the introduction of the rule on 26 September, reactions to a Facebook post about it have been mixed. While some social media users have wondered who on Earth they would ever want to hug for a whole three minutes, others were appalled at the idea of the airport putting a time limit on love, dismissing it as “inhumane” and “tyranny” and calling for “united disobedience”.
But, De Bono counters, if airport users are able to put a lid on their passions, there will be more time and more space available for even more people to experience the joy and relief of his suggested 20-second love-ins.
