Air New Zealand head Christopher Luxon says he's serious about using Whenuapai Airbase for commercial flights.

The proposal's faced strong criticism, including from Defence Minister Ron Mark.

Luxon told Andrew Dickens people have been discussing using Whenuapai for more than a decade.

He says the idea may have been a bad one 10 or 15 years ago but it's worth rethinking it given Auckland's growth.

Luxon says there are infrastructure problems in Auckland, and he's trying to do something about it.

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