NZ Bus has proposed making Wellington's Airport Flyer a capital-only service, cutting the only direct bus link between Hutt Valley and Wellington Airport.

The only direct bus link between the Hutt Valley and Wellington Airport could soon get the chop.

NZ Bus, which operates the Airport Flyer service, said on Wednesday is was proposing to no longer operate the service from Lower Hutt, instead running it between the airport and Wellington Railway Station.

The Airport Flyer, which is a commercial service funded and operated solely by NZ Bus, currently runs daily between the airport and Lower Hutt's Queensgate Mall via Wellington city.

ROBERT KITCHIN/STUFF If confirmed, the service would operate only between the airport and Wellington Railway Station.

NZ Bus general manager of operations Claire Neville said the company was reviewing the future of the service in light of the fact it will lose the majority of its commuter bus contracts in the Wellington region from July.

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The company was talking with staff about what would happen when the new contracts came into effect, but nothing had been confirmed, she said.

"Once the review is completed and the necessary approvals have been obtained, we will advise customers of the changes."

Tramways Union secretary Kevin O'Sullivan said its members were told last week of the plan to axe the Hutt Valley portion of the service from July 15.

Lower Hutt Mayor Ray Wallace said he was blindsided by the news, and planned to talk to Greater Wellington Regional Council about looking at other options to get commuters to the airport.

"I'm very disappointed. It's a service that is utilised by a number of our community on a regular basis," he said.

"That's going to put undue hardship on those people possibly having to get an additional train or bus to get to the airport."

The Airport Flyer was a key public transport service, and losing it would be "detrimental to the whole ethos of public transport", Wallace said.

"It could put people back in cars, which means more cars back on the road. That's something the regional council certainly has to look at."

Barbara Donaldson, the regional council's sustainable transport committee chairwoman, said the council was powerless if NZ Bus decided to stop the service.

It was unlikely the council would look at providing an alternative airport bus from the Hutt Valley, she said.

"There's nothing we can do. We don't run an airport service, nowhere else gets any airport buses."

Whether the change would put more pressure on other commuter buses coming into the city from the Hutt Valley had not been discussed, Donaldson said.

"We review services all the time. When the new routes start [in July], then they'll be under review to see how they're going."

The Airport Flyer runs several times an hour from Lower Hutt to the airport between 5.30am and 8.20pm on weekdays, and between 5.50am and 7.45pm on weekends.

It runs in the opposite direction from 6.35am to 9.25pm on weekdays, and from 7am to 8.45pm on weekends.

The premium service travels along the state highway network to Wellington Railway Station, then to the airport via the central city, Hataitai and Kilbirnie.