These 'romantic' airports give lovers enough time to kiss goodbye

These 'romantic' airports give lovers enough time to kiss goodbye

SINGAPORE - "Parting is such sweet sorrow that I shall say goodnight till it be morrow," quoth Juliet to Romeo in Shakespeare's famous romantic tragedy.

Sorry to burst your bubble Juliet, but airplanes don't wait for lovers' lips to part. 

Friend, family or lover - regardless of who you send off at the airport, saying goodbye can always be an emotionally tiring episode.

Some airports have - thankfully - recognised the need for these quiet moments, cheekily naming their drop off zones 'Kiss & Fly'.

Travel website Kayak.sg compared airports around the world to see just how long that final passionate embrace can last, before security shows up to move things along.

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Hong Kong International, Beijing Capital International, Tokyo International Haneda and Palma de Mallorca in Spain came up tops as some of the most romantic airports around, with a generous 30 minutes of free parking permitted.

In Asia, Shenzhen Bao'an International, Guangzhou Baiyun International and Phuket International airports come in at 15 minutes, while Singapore Changi restricts free time to 10 minutes.

Denpasar Ngurah Rai airport in Bali on the other hand, barely allows enough time for a quick peck on the cheek with zero free minutes.

In other parts of the world, Rome's Fiumicino airport allows 15 minutes of quality time in its aptly named 'Kiss & Go' zone.

Joining Rome in the 15-minute bracket are Dubai International, Prague Václav Havel and Copenhagen Kastrup, underlining the latter city's status as one of the happiest places on earth.

Paris may be the city of love, but travellers at Charles de Gaulle need to keep that amorous goodbye to a concise 10 minutes in the drop off zone.

In major American airports such as New York's JFK, San Francisco International, and Los Angeles International, goodbyes are a mere formality, with barely enough time for departees to tumble out of their vehicle before it is promptly ushered from the 'Kiss & Fly' zone.

debwong@sph.com.sg

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