Queenstown Lakes Mayor Jim Boult has called on Air New Zealand to bring the schedule for direct transtasman flights to the resort town forward.
Air NZ said in a statement last week the first flights direct from Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane would resume mid-June, but yesterday, confirmed to the Otago Daily Times services between Australia and Queenstown would be reinstated on June 24.
Mr Boult understood Air NZ was hesitant to add any earlier flights because it was unsure the demand was there.
"Unless they have the flights in the schedule, how do they know if there’s demand or not?"
He felt there was "business left on the table" given direct transtasman flights would not resume in time for Easter or the April school holidays.
Mr Boult said Air NZ representatives advised they would take another look at the schedule and come back to him.
Queenstown Airport chief executive Glen Sowry said Qantas would to be the first airline to resume direct transtasman flights to Queenstown, from May 23, and Jetstar was next, from the beginning of June.
He said there was a possibility more flights could be added to airline schedules.
If that was to happen, it would make only a week or two difference.
"We're working with the airlines to see what we can do to help them come back as quickly as they can," Mr Sowry said.
"The reality is that when the Government's decision was made to open up the borders for Australian travel, the airlines need to do a heck of a lot of work around re-jigging capacity."
To prepare, airlines were working to build schedules, ensure there were staff qualified to operate in Queenstown and set up ground-handling capability.
"That takes them quite a bit of planning and preparation to be able to get operational again, particularly given they haven't been here since July last year."
Historically, Mr Sowry said, demand from Australia was not as high in shoulder seasons.
"Understandably, the Australians are holding off on their holidays to come ski".
A spokeswoman said Air NZ would continue to monitor demand and adjust the schedule where possible.
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