Dubai International Airport was the world’s busiest airport for international travel in 2021. This is 12.7% more than a year ago.

Dubai Airports (state-owned) said Tuesday that the strong fourth quarter contributed to the increase in traffic, more than a third of which was last year.

Dubai Airports forecasted 28 million passengers for the year, but traffic rose by more than that, indicating a desire to travel, even in the midst of the continuing pandemic.

December was the busiest month at the airport. It is home to major airlines Emirates, and it handles international flights from 198 destinations.

For the first time ever since the pandemic, passenger traffic in the fourth quarter exceeded 10,000,000.

Dubai’s reopening for foreign tourists in July 2020 has provided some relief to the airport. It also has been subjected to relatively few health restrictions which have made Dubai more popular among tourists.

Dubai hosts Expo 2020, a world trade fair that began in October. Executives attending exhibitions and conferences have filled some hotels rooms.

But, the demand is still far lower than that of 86.4 million people who used Dubai airport in 2019 The airport is expected to host close to 60,000,000 passengers this year, according the management.