Air New Zealand seems to have softened its stance on a new airport in Central Otago.
Chief revenue officer Cam Wallace said at the Trenz conference in Rotorua yesterday the airline wanted to ''stimulate the conversation'' on the issue, but had no view on where an airport should go, if it was needed.
Mr Wallace also said the airline had no plans to use Dunedin or Invercargill to relieve pressure on the increasingly busy Queenstown airport.
Air New Zealand boss Christopher Luxon said last year it was time to have ''a bigger, bolder, braver conversation about creating a new Central Otago airport '', which sparked a passionate debate.
Asked yesterday if he felt there was a need for another airport, Mr Wallace said there was a need for the matter to be investigated.
Asked if he would prefer more capacity in the Queenstown area, he said flexibility was a good thing for all airlines.
''But we understand community concerns.
''Our viewpoint in terms of a regional airport was instead of looking at Queenstown, looking at Wanaka in isolation, we were advocating take a step back and saying 'what does the regional demand look like for Central Otago, does any airport or collection of airports think they can absorb that level of demand'?''
It was important to have a long-term view decades into the future.
''That may or may not lead us to a different outcome which says actually we think a new airport somewhere in Central Otago is a better scenario.''
But the airline did not have a view on where any new airport should go.
''There should be due diligence and long-term planning to make sure we have a successful and sustainable tourism industry for the future.''
New Zealand would get ''a small chance to look at this'', and if it made the wrong investment decision it would have to pay for it for the next 50 years.
The airline was very aware of constraints in Queenstown.
''We're comfortable with our capacity into that airport, and it's supplemented by Dunedin and Invercargill.
''We're pretty comfortable with the region and how many seats we've got at the moment.''
