Central Otago Mayor Tim Cadogan said yesterday he had approached the airline for more details about what it was suggesting but had received no response.
And Air New Zealand chief ground operations officer Carrie Hurihanganui, who raised the idea, declined to discuss it with the Otago Daily Times.
Ms Hurihanganui was making a submission on behalf of the airline to the Queenstown Airport Corporation's proposal to extend noise boundaries at the airport.
She suggested establishing an airport that could cope with all the region's growth needed to be considered and believed it was a better option than QAC's ''dual airport'' plan to expand Queenstown and Wanaka Airports.
While Ms Hurihanganui did not identify a particular location, her suggestion caused a stir through Central Otago, and sparked speculation about what sites might be suitable.
Mr Cadogan said the new airport suggestion came from ''completely out of left field''.
''It came as a surprise to all of us, and you wonder just how serious a comment it is when they haven't even talked to the council at any level before making it.''
He believed it was significant Ms Hurihanganui had used a small ''c'' in her reference to ''central Otago''.
''To a lot of people north of the Waitaki, Central Otago kind of encompasses Queenstown, Wanaka and Lumsden, basically anywhere that can't smell the sea.''
The QAC's master plan shows the airfields at Alexandra, Cromwell and Lauder, but none of those three made the corporation's shortlist when it came to investigating shifting Queenstown Airport to a new site.
The QAC did consider Lumsden and Hawea Downs, but ultimately rejected those locations, as well.
