Australian airports will present a united front as they seek to compete with other countries for flights from lucrative high-growth Asian countries.

Tourism Australia will gather eight Australian international airports under one banner for the first time for the Routes Asia conference to be held next month in the western Chinese aviation hub of Chengdu.

More than 500 delegates, representing 70 airlines, will be attending the conference.

Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth airports will be represented by a single Australia stand aimed at promoting the high-level delegation with one voice.

Airports Association of Australia executive director Caroline Wilkie said the airports recognised Asia represented the future and their best growth prospects. She said the collaboration would make sure there was no brand confusion about location.

"It's about the whole of Australia," she said.

"Australia is in a very competitive market globally; we're not competing so much against destinations as other countries" in the pitch to airlines. Tourism Australia wants to double overnight visitor expenditure to as much as AU$140 billion annually by the end of the decade and sees increased aviation capacity from Asia, and particularly China, as a key to this.

Last year it invested AU$13 million on 50 separate international market campaigns promoting Australia through 14 airlines in 23 markets.

Tourism Australia managing director Andrew McEvoy said the organisation was playing an increasingly targeted and strategic role in the aviation arena, using partnerships with airlines and airports to help build demand and increase competitive aviation capacity.

He said this included longer-term strategic agreements, co-operative marketing campaigns and marketing support.

He said the idea to promote an overarching Australian brand was good for events such as Routes Asia. Although foreign airlines liked competition between airports, they tended to get confused by Australia's commercially operated states and territory airports.

"They do think we should play more of a role getting under one banner so it makes a bit more sense for each of the airlines, not just in route development but in marketing and distribution particularly," Mr McEvoy said.

He said the seed for the idea came from Brisbane Airport and it had not been difficult to get the others to co-operate.

"At those events, off they go and try (to) individually grab airlines and do their deal according to their commercial ability," Mr McEvoy said.

"But they do think it is important that Australia stand out from other countries where these carriers can fly."