Dunedin Airport in New Zealand imposes hilarious new 3-minute time limit on hugs - so, who is going to be there with a stopwatch?
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Firstly, who is hugging for three minutes and secondly how on earth is that going to be manned? Is someone going to be there with a stopwatch watching everyone that is hugging in the drop-off zone?
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Hide AdIt is hilarious and ridiculous. A sign has been erected in the airport’s drop-off zone that reads: “Max hug time 3 minutes. For fonder farewells please use the car park.” It is hard to read that and not laugh.
Dunedin Airport chief executive Dan De Bono told national broadcaster Radio New Zealand (RNZ) that “it’s about enabling others to have hugs” as “there’s no space left for others”. He said: “We’re trying to have fun with it. It is an airport and those drop off locations are common locations for farewells.
“We’re not here to tell people how long they should hug for, it’s more the message of please move on and provide space for others.” He added that the airport will not have a special unit of hug police enforcing the rule but staff may politely ask lingerers to move into the car park.
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Hide AdI can’t wait to see how this hug limit works and which staff are going to be bold enough to start saying “right your three minutes are up!”. On Facebook, a user wrote that the rule is “inhumane” and another said it is “utter madness”.
However, others praised the airport for their friendly approach at a time when airports around the world are introducing drop-off fees. One user wrote on Facebook: “I bet they don’t charge them £6 to stop and drop like they do in Gatwick”.
Time limit on hugs is pretty outrageous - but so is the drop-off fees that are continually hiking at airports here in the UK. You get ripped off even to drop a loved one off. Earlier this year, an exclusive report by The Sun revealed that drop-off charges at some airports had surged by up to 20 per cent compared to the previous year.
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Hide AdIn Scotland, Aberdeen Airport increased its charge from £5 to £5.50. Leeds Bradford Airport also increased its charge to £6.50 for a 10-minute stay and the highest airport drop-off cost was at Stansted Airport where passengers are charged £7 for a stay of up to 15 minutes.
It seems to be all a big rush now at airports or else you’ll get fleeced - or now apparently told to move on at the airport in New Zealand. Keep it short and sweet, and catch flights not feelings.
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