QAC lawyer Amanda Dewar made the criticisms on the final day of a three-day hearing into the plan change before a Queenstown Lakes District Council-appointed commission yesterday, also levelling accusations of "smoke and mirrors" submitting at RPL, who she called a "prolific submitter".
"Remarkables Park has opposed every one of Queenstown Airport Corporation's statutory proposals," she said.
"It's been relatively difficult to conclude what its concerns are - its main concern is the 11 tentative night arrivals ... RPL land is not overly affected by the plan change," she said.
She said RPL's case was "misconceived" and that supporting evidence from acoustic specialist Malcolm Hunt had been "incorrect".
"It was an odd thing for an expert to suggest that night flights were being sought to beef up noise contours," she said.
Ms Dewar said RPL seemed to view "everyone as competition and subservient to its development".
Ms Dewar also took aim at Air New Zealand - citing rival Jetstar's publicly announced interest in night flights as proof there was demand for inbound night traffic.
"It's not rocket science to realise why Air New Zealand don't want that ... Air New Zealand is trying to stymie night flights so other airlines can't take advantage of it," she said.
A pair of planners and Frankton landowners associated with the Wakatipu Residents Against Airport Noise (WRAAN) also came in for some flak.
"Nimbys [not in my back yard] - that is exactly what they are," she said.
WRAAN's concerns had been adequately addressed under the noise management plan, she said.
"The airport is seeking to grow through this plan change, but will react to this growth ... the majority of folk have chosen to live by the airport and not the other way round," she said.
Commission chairman Bob Batty is likely to present the panel's recommendation on the plan change at an ordinary QLDC council meeting in November.
• QAC chief executive Steve Sanderson confirmed during the hearing that runway lights were to be installed in summer - bringing the airport up to standard in line with other "substantial" airports in the country.
At present, Queenstown airport is the only major air traffic hub in the country without runway lights, which greatly improve daytime flight operations and allow aircraft to "pop out of the cloud and into visibility up to 500ft [152m] above the runway."
Mr Sanderson said the runway lights would eventually become operational for night landing and that construction was proposed to begin in summer.
- Matt Stewart
