Blenheim in the northern part of New Zealand's South Island is hoping to secure its maiden low-cost carrier with Jetstar Airways (JQ, Melbourne Tullamarine) being the frontrunner, Stuff.co.nz has reported.

According to the ch-aviation capacity module, the airport currently sees scheduled traffic from Air New Zealand (NZ, Auckland International), operated by a regional subsidiary Air Nelson (Nelson, NZ), as well as from local carrier Sounds Air (S8, Picton).

"We are on [Jetstar's] radar. The problem is the proximity of Nelson, NZ, the population of Nelson and the volume of people," airport chief executive Dean Heiford said.

Nelson, located some 60 kilometres away, sees much larger traffic by Air New Zealand, Jetstar, and Sounds Air.

Jetstar Airways currently operates 490 weekly domestic flights in New Zealand, serving a total of 12 routes. The carrier bases its New Zealandic operations out of Auckland International and deploys own A320-200s as well as Dash 8-300s operated by Eastern Australia Airlines (EAQ, Tamworth) in the country.