Air New Zealand deputy chief executive officer Norm Thompson told more than 100 people at a Destination Queenstown industry update last Friday the 2011 RWC was important for the country, particularly Queenstown.
"If there is any part of the country we need to step up, it is with you guys ... you have got to help us with this; if you don't think this is a serious issue, you're up in the clouds," Mr Thompson said.
He said he received phone calls and emails on a daily basis asking, "what the hell is going on down there?"
"The RWC will be a failure if we don't fill up all parts of the country ... if we fill up Auckland and the rest of the country is empty, it will fail," he said.
Air NZ flew 354,000 passengers into Queenstown this year, - 34,000 direct from three Australian airports, and 320,000 direct from New Zealand airports.
Mr Thompson said a decision on a transtasman alliance between Air NZ and Virgin Blue was likely to be released in two weeks' time.
Air NZ general manager (online and leisure) Dave Simmons said the alliance would "beef up" presence in Australia and have a big impact on increasing transtasman visitors to Queenstown.
"The RWC is a huge challenge for the industry, but particularly for Queenstown, the big role we play is increasing traffic in from Australia," he said.
The Air NZ all black A320 aircraft - in support of the All Blacks rugby team - is expected to arrive in Queenstown in January.
