Kiwi Regional Airlines is putting its plans to fly to Christchurch on ice.

The airline was due to begin flying to the garden city in about ten days time.

But CEO Ewan Wilson says a number of factors, including low advanced sales, lack of available gates, and competition from Air New Zealand, have led them to pull out.

Wilson says small regional airlines can operate as seasonal businesses, and they'll reassess their position in October.

"We need to gear up for the seasonal peaks and we need to hunker down during the troughs. We're going into a winter period so we're reducing our schedule."