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The future of air travel into and out of the South needs to be a discussion that includes the whole region, Dunedin Airport chief executive Richard Roberts says.
But Dunedin could help overcapacity in Queenstown by taking more transtasman flights.
Mr Roberts was responding to the debate over proposals for a new airport in the Central Otago area to deal with Queenstown’s issues.
Asked what the issue could mean for Dunedin, he said whatever played out in Central Otago, Queenstown or Wanaka "will be what it will be".
"We’re not really going to influence that and there’s not a lot we can do about that."
But he had strong views on how the region should approach the future.
"We all know that Queenstown has an issue that has come to the fore, and they’re looking at what their options are."
The region had airports at Dunedin, Queenstown and Invercargill and the message from Tourism New Zealand and the Government had been "you’ve got to start hunting in packs".
"What I would like to see is the whole region having a really strong strategic view on how we can work together to put the offer of the lower South on the world stage."
Both Queenstown and Dunedin had transtasman connections and they were not far apart.
"Why do we not relieve capacity into Queenstown by putting some transtasman capacity over this side [Dunedin]?"
Mr Roberts said he wanted visitors coming to Dunedin as well as Queenstown and visiting the whole region from Waitaki River south.
Visitors wanted to travel to more than one place, and with the Southern Scenic Route connecting the areas that was possible.
But regional tourism organisations (RTOs) like Enterprise Dunedin, Destination Clutha or Venture Southland needed to come together to make it happen.
"This is a leadership issue. The leaders need to make it happen."
RTOs worked for their councils and were tasked with "looking at their place only and improving their performance only".
"At the moment I feel like we’re all fighting for our slice of the pie, and that’s how RTOs tend to work.
"If you build a bigger pie, your slice tends to get bigger as well."
Airports should be part of the group involved, he said.
"They have to be because they’re what is going to facilitate that conduit to bring people in and out of the region."
Mr Roberts said Dunedin Airport communicated with other airports and the RTOs.