Phuket was among the airports in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East with the highest growth in passenger traffic in the first half of 2016.
The bustling airport on the southern resort island registered a 19.4% rise in passenger throughput year-on-year, joining a handful of facilities with growth of around 20%.
Others included Busan (up 23.6%), Bengaluru (21.6%), Delhi (21.5%), Doha (20.2%) and Hyderabad (19.3%), according to Airports Council International (ACI).
Figures from Airports of Thailand Plc, which operates Phuket airport, showed that Phuket processed 7.67 million passengers between January and June this year, 4.18 million of whom were international travellers (up 18.1%) and 3.48 million domestic travellers (20.9%).
For the first half of 2016, overall growth in passenger traffic at airports in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East maintained solid growth, increasing 8.8% over the same period last year.
ACI said India has continued its growth trajectory, with sturdy domestic demand enabling gains at many of its airports.
In China, growth was led by Hangzhou (up 13%), Kunming (10.7%) and Shanghai Pudong (10.5%).
In South Korea, passenger traffic rebounded from a sharp drop after an outbreak of Mers in May 2015.