Dunedin Airport has assured romantically inclined passengers that it does not have hug police.

Responding to the global coverage of its three-minute limit on farewell hugs in an effort to stop congestion at the drop off zone the airport’s CEO Dan De Bono, assured the AAP the airport does not “have hug police.”

The new regulation was imposed in September to “keep things moving smoothly”.

The sign at the drop-off zone reads: “Max hug time three minutes”.

Those wanting a “fonder farewell” should head to the airport’s car park instead, it says.

“We were accused of breaching basic human rights and how dare we limit how long someone can have a hug for,” the CEO told The Associated Press news agency.

“Three minutes is plenty of time to pull up, say farewell to your loved ones and move on”, he said.

“The time limit is really a nicer way of saying, you know, get on with it.”