A police commissioner has apologised for using a force helicopter to fly to an interstate conference and says he won't make the same mistake again.

Victorian Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush flew from Melbourne to Hobart for a meeting with his counterparts from around Australia and New Zealand on Monday.

A commercial airline flight between the two cities takes about an hour.

Mr Bush said in a statement more effort should have been made to find a commercial flight but using the helicopter didn't cost taxpayers extra.

The force's helicopters are leased and a certain number of hours are already paid for each month under the agreement.

"I'm sorry that I made a bad decision," Mr Bush told ABC radio on Wednesday.

"If we'd been patient, more diligent, we would have booked a commercial fl

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