Air New Zealand chief executive Christopher Luxon said at the Trenz conference in Rotorua yesterday Dunedin was "a classic case of a region that is getting its act together very well''.
"The degree of collaboration between the stakeholders in Dunedin city is much more aligned than it's ever been.''
That was a change from the conference a year ago, when he told the Otago Daily Times the city needed to do a better job of presenting a clear picture of what it offered tourists.
He also said then transtasman flights from the city would be "difficult'' for the company.
But yesterday he credited the likes of Dunedin Airport chief executive Richard Roberts, and a memorandum of understanding signed with city organisations last year.
Those organisations and businesspeople such as Ian Taylor, of Animation Research, were passionate about Dunedin and "hunt in a pack''.
"It makes my job incredibly easy when I rock into Dunedin and say `how can I help to build your growth here?' It's night and day from four years ago.''
Last month, Air New Zealand announced it would add 30,000 seats on its Wellington route by replacing some of its turboprop ATR aircraft with bigger, faster Airbus A320s.
Mr Luxon said that was a result of the work that had been done.
"Like all cities, I'm sure everybody has their issues, but Dunedin has done an exceptional job of everyone coming together.
"We've been able to jointly work on building up the demand, which has then led in the last six months to increased services in Dunedin.''
Mr Luxon said four years ago, Air New Zealand had said if Dunedin did not "get it together'' the company would move its aircraft to places that were growing.
Initiatives such as the Forsyth Barr Stadium had made a difference, and "the way that's being marketed now is outstanding''.
The work done was now starting to create more marketing and demand.
"When we do that together then we can add an aircraft, and that's what we've been doing.''
On the possibilities of transtasman flights, he said there was always hope they could increase, but more marketing work had to be done.
Air New Zealand had been building marketing campaigns on the eastern seaboard of Australia to tell people why they should come to New Zealand.
Starting a new route was not enough, he said.
"People don't just jump on it and say they're going to Dunedin. They've got to know what they're going to do when they're there, and why they're going.''
He said Dunedin had done a good job recently to define what was in the city for people to do.
"Our job is always build demand, and supply will follow.''
Enterprise Dunedin director John Christie said the memorandum of understanding had been signed by his organisation, the airline, Dunedin Airport, the Otago Chamber of Commerce and the Otago Southland Employers Association.
He understood it was one of only two in New Zealand.
