Air New Zealand is scheduled to introduce 50-seat Bombardier Q300 aircraft from March to replace its 19-seat Beechcraft planes on its Timaru-Wellington route.
Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher has engaged in discussions, as part of a "mini mayoral forum'', with Timaru, Mackenzie and Waimate councils about how each district can benefit from the introduction of 50-seat planes.
The Timaru District Council was partnering with Air New Zealand in promoting the new service, but there were also opportunities for Waitaki, Mackenzie and Waimate councils.
They all had a vested interest in making sure the service worked, Mr Kircher said.
"The benefit to us is that there's a whole lot more seats coming in to Timaru, so how do we make use of them ourselves?
"We're looking at the potential of marketing to a lower North Island market and getting them to come down.''
A "key opportunity'' for the Waitaki and Mackenzie districts was promoting the Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Trail.
Weekend trips would also be promoted.
"Come to Oamaru or Moeraki, go fishing, whatever it might be,'' he said.
The co-ordinated promotion would be launched when the new service was and it would probably be co-ordinated through one tourism body for all the districts, Mr Kircher said.
The councils would seek financial contribution from relevant businesses towards the promotion of their districts.
"They'd get some good mileage from it,'' he said.
Air New Zealand said its newer, bigger planes would also have more advanced navigation equipment than their smaller predecessors.
