New Queenstown Airport Corporation chief executive Scott Paterson wants to assure the Queenstown community his appointment is not "a big prank from the board".
The Aucklander - began his role with QAC earlier this month, in his first foray into airports.
Having lived in Europe, the United States and Australia, Mr Paterson has been extensively involved in quarries and ports, most recently heading Portland, in Australia's state of Victoria.
"[You may ask] why would you appoint someone from Auckland who has never run an airport before?
"This isn't a big prank from the board. There are similarities. Before I was in airports I was at Fletcher Building in the infrastructure sector, running the quarry business."
While he was getting to grips with the business of running an airport, "there is so much that I don't know I don't even know".
Mr Paterson said Queenstown Airport was a "conduit" for the wider region and its success was very clearly linked to the region as a whole.
While a key goal was matching infrastructure to growth, he was not of the "build it and they will come" philosophy.
"You can have huge investment [in infrastructure], but if nobody's using them, you just wasted your money. I will have the plans ... and it will be subject to a number of triggers that will trigger those big [investments].
"As a result of that, we will have plans in place for when we're ready to put them in motion."
One of Mr Paterson's immediate imperatives was enabling flights to land and depart at Queenstown within operating hours, from 6am to 10pm. While there were several investments needed before that could become a reality - for example more apron lighting - Mr Paterson was confident Queenstown hada case for later flights.
He said airlines had to first make a safety case to the Civil Aviation Authority, which then had to be satisfied evening flights were safe and viable.
"We'll start slowly. The community is not going to see five to 10 to 20 flights [landing out to 10pm]."
The father of three, and "long-suffering Blues supporter" said his wife, Lesley, had remained in Auckland for now with his two sons, aged 12 and 20, and his 16-year-old daughter.
While his wife and youngest son would be moving to the resort at the end of the year, his daughter might also move, "depending on negotiations".
