In an open letter to the Government released a short time ago, the New Zealand Aviation Coalition said it was concerned domestic travel would be "unnecessarily restricted" at Level 2, "causing permanent damage to regional businesses and harming economic recovery".
The Government has yet to announce the rules that will apply under Level 2.
The coalition was confident "safe and traceable domestic air travel" could be achieved.
The letter was signed by representatives of Air New Zealand Ltd, the Board of Airline Representatives NZ, New Zealand Airports Association, Wellington International Airport Ltd, Auckland International Airport Ltd, Christchurch International Airport Ltd and Queenstown Airport Corporation Ltd.
It went on to say, families needed to re-connect, businesses needed to operate, and regional economies relied on the stimulus of inter-regional travel.
"As we look ahead to Level 2, we have a changed health landscape.
"We have negligible community transmission.
"The major source of new cases — the international border — is effectively closed and any arrivals are required to quarantine.
"These are surely the settings by which New Zealand can allow safe domestic travel and safe domestic business.
"As we approach Level 2, it is clear that New Zealand has the health conditions and the capacity to allow both safe travel and safe business operations.
"Domestic travel must be encouraged as well as allowable, so air services can be scaled, and customers can return.
"Without this, some regional airlines will almost certainly go under, air links won’t grow and New Zealand’s journey of recovery will be harder and longer."
