Leaders cut ribbons and gave speeches while departing flights were sent off with water-cannon salutes as the Atlanta airport’s new international terminal opened with fanfare May 16.
Louis Miller, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport’s general manager, and Richard Anderson, Delta Air Lines Inc.‘s chief executive, were on hand to mark the opening of the $1.4 billion showpiece.
The terminal, or Concourse F, adds 12 new gates, joining with Concourse E to form a 40-gate international complex. It was built to handle an anticipated increase from 10 million international passengers last year to 13 million by 2015.
The first flight, a Delta jet headed for Tokyo, left the airport at 1:25 p.m., just after the terminal’s noon opening. The first arriving flight, another Delta plane from Dublin, touched down less than an hour later.
Departing intenrational passengers entered the Maynard H. Jackson Jr. International Terminal thorugh the airport’s new “front door” on Interstate 75, which leads down a straight corridor lined with flags from around the world.
View the GlobalAtlanta video above to get a feel for the bustle of the new terminal on opening day.
