"The addition of service to three new destinations in Mexico by AirTran and Interjet helped contribute to this growth," Airport Director Alan L. Murphy said in a statement. "The overall increase in passengers, however, reflects both the new international service and improvements in the general domestic travel market."
Total aircraft operations increased in 2012 over the prior year by 1.1%, with 255,688 flights taking off or landing, over 252,943 in 2011.
But within those operations, commuter plane take-offs and landings dropped by 17.5%.
Commuter plane activity in December 2012 versus December 2011 also decreased, by 14.9%.
General aviation activity (non-commercial operations, including private planes), which made up about 67% of 2012's flights, increased by 1.2% over 2011.
According to the terms of the airport's settlement agreement, passenger counts are capped at 10.8 million per year, although officials say they don't expect to ever reach that limit.
— Jill Cowan
Twitter: @jillcowan