The Rural Fire Service (RFS) will be better placed to respond to bushfires in the northern New South Wales region with the addition of two new aircraft.

For the next two-and-a-half months, a plane and medium EC 145 helicopter will be based at the Grafton airport.

A regional operations manager with the RFS, Bryan Daly, says the additions will mean quicker responses to fires up and down the coast and to the west.

"The report of a fire comes in and we can respond with our brigades and the aircraft at the same time," he said.

"By the time our crews get there, if it's away from where they're normally based, the aircraft can get there and drop some water on it, knock it down and then the crews come in, tidy it up and then they can head home and know that that one has been dealt with."

Mr Daly says one aircraft was based at the Grafton airport last year but it was decided another one would be needed this year.

"They're based in Grafton and we can deploy them up and down the coast and out west into the tablelands if need be," he said.

"They're on very short notice to move - the pilots will stay with the aircraft and provide that quick response capacity that is crucial to containing fires when they kick off."