The trend for Dunedin to be treated as a poor relation in terms of air travel looks set to continue as a network review is conducted by Air New Zealand.
Aviation authorities say this may lead to more flights being cut and aircraft downsized on particular routes.
Dunedin International Airport chief executive John McCall said Air New Zealand over the past three months had reduced capacity by downsizing aircraft on certain routes, and cutting the frequency of some flights.
The 9pm weekday flight from Dunedin to Auckland was one flight on which frequency had been reduced, with the Monday and Tuesday flights cut, he said.
"Across the rest of the services, we are seeing a change in capacity."
The replacement of jet aircraft with turboprop aircraft on routes such as the Dunedin-Wellington flight added about 50 minutes to the flights and "annoyed customers", he said.
"The market is very unhappy. I get asked every day about the reduction in services."
Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe said this week the airline was reviewing capacity across its network, with decisions expected to be made public within the next two weeks.
Aviation Industry Association chief executive Irene King said a reduction in passenger numbers had forced the airline to review its operations before the onset of winter.
With a tightening market abroad, Air New Zealand was likely to reduce flights to long-haul destinations, and fly smaller aircraft more frequently on the competitive transtasman route, she said.
For the domestic market, Air New Zealand had "enormous flexibility" and would focus on matching the right aircraft with each destination, before Pacific Blue and Jetstar expanded domestic services.
While it was likely smaller aircraft could be used for some domestic routes, it was unlikely the airline would pull out of any route, Ms King said.
"I would be very surprised if they pulled out of anywhere."
Mr McCall said routes usually serviced by the 737-300, a jet aircraft with a 133-seat capacity, were often now flown by an ATR72-500, a twin turboprop regional airliner with a seating capacity of 68 passengers.
Invercargill Airport chief executive Barry Bouton said the airport had lost one daily direct flight to Wellington but did not expect other services to be cut as part of any review.
Last week, Queenstown International Airport chief executive Steve Sanderson said more ATRs were flying into the resort rather than jets, resulting in an increase of flights but a slight reduction in passenger numbers.
