A Dunedin travel agency owner has leapt to the defence of Dunedin International Airport, saying Air New Zealand has been treating Dunedin like "a cash cow" for years, and the airline needs to take the airport's increased landing charges on the chin.
The airport raised airline-user charges by 78% late last year, prompting a scathing attack from Air New Zealand Australasia operations general manager Glen Sowry.
The increase means Air New Zealand air fares will rise by $3 for Dunedin to Christchurch/Wellington services, and $4 for Dunedin to Auckland services, from today.
Mr Sowry said the likely outcome of the increased airline-user charges would be fewer passengers and the increasing substitution of jet services with ATR aircraft.
The travel agency owner, who declined to be named, was angry Air New Zealand was trying to "blame" Dunedin airport, rather than look at what it delivered, and challenged the implication that Dunedin was lucky to have the airline.
"We already pay a fortune for the privilege of flying them.
"Considering Air New Zealand is already subsidised by the taxpayer, are ratepayer airports meant to subsidise them also?
"Oh, for some competition, and we would see what fares they would service the town for."
He said Air New Zealand's threat to downgrade to ATR services was a bullying tactic, especially since it had already compromised local business by not managing peak demand around university and polytechnic graduations and end of terms.
"We never get additional capacity during key periods."
He also argued Mr Sowry's comments about Dunedin being a "soft tourism" market were not reality.
"Dunedin is primarily a local/business market, so this excuse does not stack up."
He said Air New Zealand did provide cheap air fares, but they were not at times that were useful to the Dunedin business community.
"When it comes to Air New Zealand, it's always someone else's fault. They actively try to push off their costs to someone else.
"Air New Zealand has treated the Dunedin market like a cash cow for years.
"I recognise that they are having a cost-increase impact on their business, but their arguments are terribly one-sided.
"They don't take into account the needs of the business community and the shortfalls of some of the existing services provided."
Mr Sowry declined to respond to the "cash cow" comment, but said he believed the airline provided competitive air fares and a high frequency of flights out of Dunedin.
The airline, on average, provided 30 services a day into Dunedin - 210 per week.
He said the number of passengers flying out of Dunedin had increased by 160,000 during the past eight years, which was the equivalent of 300 full ATR aircraft each year.
