Two current flights from Tri-Cities Airport have moved into larger aircraft and a future fourth daily route to Salt Lake City will offer more than 120 seats per flight.

The bigger planes are signs of growing demand.

“Those are big wins,” said Buck Taft, the airport’s executive director. “More seats and additional frequency is a big deal. It’s great news.”

United Airlines swapped its 76-seat Embraer 175 for a 124-seat Airbus 31X in March, part of an effort to meet increasing demand for its two daily flights to Denver, Taft said.

Delta Airlines will have another Airbus flying out daily to Salt Lake City beginning in early May, and its daily flight to Minneapolis will also use the larger aircraft over the Embraer.

With those changes, the airport will offer a minimum of 16 flights daily from seven airlines, demonstrating the increasing demand for air travel options for the region. Passenger traffic has increased annually since the Covid-19 pandemic and the airport began surpassing its pre-pandemic enplanements in early 2024.

An enplanement refers to passengers boarding an airplane at a specific airport, per the Federal Aviation Administration.

The airport is already on track this year to beat the record 478,016 passengers who passed through its gates in 2024. Officials recorded 40,514 people flying out of the Tri-Cities in January, an increase of nearly 5,000 compared to the same time a year ago. Combined with preliminary figures for February, ridership is up 12% compared to the same period in 2024.

Taft said he doesn’t expect any other new or expanded flights for the remainder of 2025. Adding a flight to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) in Texas is the next target for a future airline, with the airport having documented interest in such a route and securing a $750,000 federal grant to support it.

The main hurdle, Taft said, is an airline having a plane available to establish the route. He’s optimistic that will end up being American Airlines, especially as it sees strong demand for its now two daily flights to Phoenix, Arizona.

“My No. 1 priority is DFW,” Taft said.