Jetstar on Marlborough airport radar

‘‘That hamstrings the airport to some extent, the fact that we don’t own the underlying land . . . that restricts our ability to expand and get bigger,’’ he said.

Nelson was ‘‘quite lucky’’ because it was a servicing port for a lot of the New Zealand midrange fleet , Heiford said.

‘‘They can mark the prices accordingly, because anyone on the aircraft paying something is better than going empty somewhere,’’ he said.

Heiford said while there were other small operators that could come into the Marlborough market, they were ‘‘very sensitive’’ to price volumes.

A Jetstar spokesman said while the airline was ‘‘always open to new opportunities’’, it currently had ‘‘no plans to expand its regional operation’’.

Jetstar came to Nelson in 2015 as part of its new regional network. Its arrival was a gamechanger for the region as more competition meant lower fares for routes.

A search of the Air NZ website showed flights to Auckland could cost between $20 to $140 more from Marlborough Airport than from Nelson Airport.

Outside of the potential expansion, Heiford said both Marlborough Mayor John Leggett and the council’s chief executive Mark Wheeler had held meetings with Air NZ and broached the return of their direct flight to Christchurch.

‘‘Air New Zealand’s answer was, ‘OK, which region do we take an aircraft off to give you a direct flight to Christchurch?’’’ he said.

‘‘It’s easier for Air New Zealand to push Marlborough people via Wellington and fill their capacity [to Christchurch] there. Doesn’t seem any cheaper though, does it?’’