Strong doubts expressed about the Queenstown operation’s capacity to handle growth in airline passenger numbers have also struck a nerve.
"We can all agree that New Zealand is facing infrastructure challenges, but a shortage of airports is not one of them," Queenstown Airport chief executive Glen Sowry said.
"If this project is foisted upon Tarras, it is the communities of Central Otago, Upper Clutha and Queenstown that will bear the brunt of the environmental costs and additional strain on infrastructure."
Christchurch Airport, which is behind the Tarras project, has presented the Central Otago area as poised for growth but constrained by aviation capacity.
By 2040, Queenstown Airport could be "spilling more demand than it is able to satisfy", Christchurch Airport said in a document in August.
"Instead of waiting for a problem to materialise, we are looking at the needs of a region well beyond the current decade and considering the best solution before it becomes an irreversible problem."
Mr Sowry responded to such themes with a strongly worded statement this morning.
"Christchurch Airport is spending tens of millions of dollars just to ‘explore a problem’ with no fixed outcome in sight," he said.
"In my view, it is pitching a solution in search of a problem."
Christchurch Airport argued Queenstown might start experiencing operational constraints as early as next year.
Mr Sowry said Queenstown Airport was not barred from expanding.
"We have plenty of land and our capacity constraints are the result of community consultation, not physical constraints," he said.
A master plan was being worked on that would allow "passenger numbers to increase by a third by 2032 and allocates space for further expansion in the decades beyond that".
"We are listening to them, unlike Christchurch Airport, which seems to be ignoring the widespread rejection of the proposed airport at Tarras."
Christchurch Airport said Queenstown Airport’s proposed expansion would defer the capacity problem by just a few years.
It had also not been specific about what should happen past 2032.
Mr Sowry described the Tarras project as a large-scale airport capable of handling wide-body long-haul jets from Asia and beyond, operating around the clock.
"Christchurch Airport’s briefing to Treasury states 70% of passengers to the proposed Tarras airport would come from overseas," he said.
"By comparison, about 30% of Queenstown Airport’s passengers arrive on international flights from Australia."
In a joint statement last month, Destination Queenstown and Lake Wānaka Tourism said the proposed Tarras airport would drive an increase in visitor numbers to the region on a scale never previously seen.
This would be at odds with a regenerative model for tourism that encouraged "value over volume", they said.
Mr Sowry tapped into the theme.
"We know people want to come here, but the idea that we need to submit to limitless growth and fuel turbo-charged tourism is outdated," he said.
Christchurch Airport chief strategy and stakeholder officer Michael Singleton said last month demand to travel to and from Central Otago would continue to grow, even if air capacity was constrained.
"We are supportive of the view that tourism needs to become more sustainable and regenerative," he said.
"We believe that organisations tasked with ensuring the long-term prosperity of their communities should consider the environmental, social and economic impacts of any decisions."
