AN AMERICAN EAGLE FLIGHT takes off at Tyler Pounds Regional Airport in February. Davis Dickson, head of the airport, said he hopes new incentives can attract more carriers.

The Tyler Pounds Regional Airport is going to offer new incentives in hopes of bringing more flights to the area, including larger airlines and more destinations.

The Tyler City Council voted Wednesday to update the airline incentive program to waive landing and space rental fees for 12 months for airlines willing to offer new service to Tyler Pounds Regional Airport. The incentive includes new airlines offering flights as well as current airlines offering service they don’t already provide.

Davis Dickson, head of Tyler Pounds Regional Airport, said he hopes the incentives will provide new revenue in the future while giving East Texans more options so they won’t have to drive to DFW Airport.

“We just want to be the regional airport for all of East Texas so people don’t have to drive all the way to DFW to get on a flight,” Dickson said. “We’re approaching a time when our airfield is much more capable of handling larger aircraft. With more people we could see the possibility of larger aircrafts and more destinations.”

Before a partnership with United Airlines ended in 2016, Dickson said the airport saw more than 100,000 passengers annually. Now an average of 98,000 people come through.

He hopes these incentives will bring in more airlines with more destinations. United Airlines made trips between Tyler and Houston until the airline left as a part of cutbacks.

The airport’s success can impact the local economy as well. More services will pop up around the airport, like hotels and car rental services, Dickson said.

Improvements to runway and taxiway pavement at the airport will allow heavier, larger aircraft to land and take off in the future.

“We’ve had to turn away some business because our runways weren’t strong enough,” Dickson said. “If we can take bigger planes, we can offer longer flights.”

Dickson said that his ambition is only to serve East Texans better. He said DFW is too close for him to hope for a major hub in Tyler.

“It would be a long time from now,” Dickson said of the possibility of Tyler becoming a major hub. “DFW is such a strong hub airport, and it’s all based on population density, in my opinion.”