New Rule at One International Airport: Max 3 Minutes for Farewells

If you’re looking to have a long, tearful goodbye at New Zealand’s Dunedin Airport (DUD), you’re either going to have to do it in the parking lot, or before you leave for the airport.   

New signs outside of Dunedin’s drop-off area warn passengers that the “max hug time” when dropping loved ones off at departures is now three minutes. Anyone craving a fonder farewell than that should head to the parking lot, which they can use for free up to 15 minutes.

Passengers won’t be fined or punished if they exceed that three-minute time limit, which airport officials say is plenty of time to pull, unload bags, and say farewell. Instead, they’ll simply be told to hurry along.

While some on social media have accused airport officials of being inhumane with the sign, the goal, according to airport officials, is to keep things moving so cars coming into the area can have a space, and traffic doesn’t have to stall.  

The airport hasn’t shied away from the news going viral, either—its CEO Daniel De Bono and GM Business Development Megan Crawford posed in front of the sign this week to celebrate the press:

Dunedin is far from the first airport to do something like this. In fact, some airports charge any cars coming into the drop-off area, including London Gatwick, which requires all vehicles to pay a minimum of £6, and London Heathrow, which charges £5.