Ban Of The Week (3)

If you are fed up with having to push past people taking prolonged and amorous farewells as you rush to an airport boarding gate, Dunedin airport in New Zealand might just be the place for you. As part of measures to speed up the airport “experience” the airport has imposed since September a three minute maximum time limit for farewell hugs at the drop off zone.

Signage, erected in September, advises passengers of the time limit and recommends that for fonder and more prolonged farewells the car park is used. At least, the first fifteen minutes are free there.

Of course, the limit which seems to have been accepted with little comment by the stolid million or so passengers who use the airport each year but has caused a viral storm when it hit social media, does raise the more profound question of how long should you cuddle to maximise the good vibes. It seems that just a twenty-second hug is enough to release oxytocin and serotonin, the happy hormones that boost well-being, so three minutes should be more than enough.

Well, that’s all right then.