In news that might have scuppered the opening scene of classic Christmas romcom Love Actually (that arrivals gate montage), an airport in New Zealand has introduced a three-minute cap on goodbye hugs.

“Max hug time three minutes – for fonder farewells, please use the car park,” reads a sign installed in drop-off zones in Dunedin, a city in the South Island of New Zealand. According to Dan De Bono, the airport’s chief executive, the signs are intended to keep traffic flowing, enable more people to hug goodbye and discourage any last-minute acts of passion. 

“Airports are hotbeds of emotion… our staff have seen some interesting things over the years,” De Bono told Radio New Zealand.

Despite this, the cuddle cap has already attracted critics. But regardless of where you stand on the unusual new rule, it raises some interesting questions about the benefits of physical touch. We all know how comforting a hug can feel, regardless of whether you’re about to jet off on an aeroplane, but do they have any measurable effects?

According to Dr Deborah Lee, a GP at Dr Fox Online Pharmacy, the benefits of a hug are extensive. “When someone hugs you, specialised nerve fibres in the skin, known as C-afferent fibres, send signals to your brain’s emotional network,” she explains. “This then releases oxytocin, known as the love hormone, as well as endorphins – substances produced in the brain that give us a natural high.”

Hugging can reportedly lower your levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, and can lower anxiety, improve depressive symptoms and even relieve pain. But how long do they have to be to trigger these benefits?

According to psychologists, 20 seconds will do the trick. “In one experiment, a group of 200 people were asked to do a public speaking task,” explains Lee. “Half the group had a 20-second hug immediately before they delivered their speech, but the other half did not. The group who had been hugged beforehand were demonstrably less stressed.”

In this context, Dunedin Airport’s three-minute rule seems more than generous. And even if you don’t have anyone waving you off before a flight, don’t worry; according to Lee, studies show that there are still health benefits if you hug or cushion or even give yourself a hug. We know what we’ll be doing at our next departure gate…

Images: Getty