As international airports go, New Zealand’s Dunedin International is a very small affair. I felt quite foolish showing up two hours ahead of time for my flight from Dunedin to Auckland since there was just one other flight that morning and combined check-in and security took all of ten minutes. So, I was tickled by the recent news story about the facility’s crackdown on lingering drop-offs.

A sign erected in the airport’s drop-off zone warns: “Max hug time 3 minutes. For fonder farewells please use the car park.”

Dunedin Airport chief executive Dan De Bono told national broadcaster Radio New Zealand (RNZ) that warning messages at airport drop-off zones can be “quite intense” and include threats to clamp wheels or impose fines – something the airport wanted to avoid.

“We’re trying to have fun with it. It is an airport and those drop off locations are common locations for farewells,” De Bono told RNZ, adding that too many people were taking too long in the drop-off zone.

“There’s no space left for others,” he said. “It’s about enabling others to have hugs.”