Nelson Mayor Nick Smith says he is "disappointed but not surprised" that Air New Zealand has cut flights to and from his region for the third time since the conflict in Iran began.
Over the past few months Air New Zealand has cut flights to multiple regions due to the rising cost of jet fuel caused by the ongoing war in the Middle East.
Last month, the airline confirmed a reduction of flights which would affect "around 4% of flights but only 1% of total passengers due to travel across this period".
In a post online, Nelson Mayor Nick Smith said Air New Zealand was cutting a further 23 Nelson flights to and from Auckland, 32 to and from Wellington and 15 to and from Christchurch between June 29 and July 26.
He said it was the third time Nelson flights to and from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch had been axed temporarily since the war in Iran started, and brought the total number of flights lost to 266, or about 12,000 seats.
"Tourism is very important in Nelson, we're a long way from anywhere and isolated region, so our air services are really important. Disappointed but not surprised," he told Breakfast this morning.
He conceded the airlines were "between a rock and a hard place" when it came to fuel prices, but wanted to understand why it was always Nelson bearing the brunt of flight reductions.
"The bit that worries me is the tourism. Nelson's got a really important visitor industry, a lot of that is domestic."
He appreciated the affected flights were at off-peak times, so those travelling for business or health treatment were less affected.
He said people should consider a "local holiday" if they were put off by high air travel costs - such as Golden Bay or Nelson Lakes in the top of the south.
Smith said the Government could get on board with more local tourism promotion, and he supported the decision last week to hand out Regional Investment Funding loans for some smaller airlines.
"I'm also very supportive of the decision the Government made last week, and that is to keep Air New Zealand honest. We do need competition, and so that support that the Government offered for Sounds Air, for Golden Bay Air, and Island Air last week is also important.
"I think competition in the air services is important alongside our national airline."
He also said he appreciated that Air New Zealand had "consulted with us, and talked with us about the changes".
"Well, the really important thing will be that those services are restored when the fuel crisis ends. Goodness knows when that might be, but we do not want to give up those key links, those services with Wellington, with Christchurch and with Auckland.
"We do want them restored and I've made that plain to Air New Zealand. I've felt their communication with mayors like me has been quite good and quite considerate," he added.
Air New Zealand would not appear on Breakfast, but issued a statement, where it said due to the ongoing impacts of high jet fuel prices it had made a small number of schedule changes for travel across July, affecting around 2% of customers.
The airline said the flight consolidations are targeted to minimise disruption and those whose updated flight doesn’t suit their plans can choose a refund or credit.
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