Queenstown Lakes District councillor Gillian Macleod says she remains "unconvinced" of the local benefits from the strategic alliance between the Queenstown and Auckland airports.
This follows her attending a meeting with Auckland International Airport Ltd (AIAL) chief executive Simon Moutter in Queenstown this week.
Cr Macleod, who is not seeking re-election this year, was one of several people who met Mr Moutter while he attended a Queenstown Airport Corporation (QAC) board meeting in the resort.
She said Mr Moutter was "very conciliatory, very informed and very honest" with councillors about AIAL's strategic vision, which she described as being "all about bums on seats", something she felt was "a little bit scary".
"That will gladden the hearts of many in the accommodation sector [but be warned] that may just mean a trip to Milford Sound and back without an overnight stay.
"But that's not their [AIAL's] concern.
"We are a highly valued commodity, but how many people do we want coming in and out and at what price?"We, as a community, should value ourselves more than that."
While Cr Macleod could "definitely" see the advantages for AIAL, she remained unconvinced of the benefits for the resort, which needed long-stay visitors.
"Hopefully, there will be dialogue that talks about concerns beyond the capitalisation of the airport - what the implications of many more flights [are] and what the quality of the people arriving on those flights might be.
"Bums on seats does not equate, necessarily, to long-term visitors in the community."
Mr Moutter was attending a conference in Australia yesterday and could not be contacted.
But AIAL strategic communications adviser Andrew Pirie said yesterday the company was interested in building "thicker routes", described as more airlines flying and more flights per day, giving passengers more choice.
An example of how a "thick route" could work through the alliance was in the Chinese travelling market, Mr Pirie said.
About 90% of Chinese holidaymakers arrive in Auckland via Australia in a "dual destination holiday".
"What we'd like to do is get them to come into Auckland, then go down to Queenstown and then fly direct from Queenstown to Sydney or Melbourne.
"In a funny way, that makes Auckland a better [strategic] partner ... if we can work out ways to work with Queenstown Airport to tap in ... Queenstown benefits.
"It helps with the dynamics of both airports.
"It's making sure we've got strategies that work for the airlines and the passengers [and] working with people to see what works best - it's not a 'one size fits all' model.
"I've heard the comments ... but it's not the intention and it wouldn't be the case in practice," Mr Pirie said.
