Calling it "Atlanta's new front door," officials opened up Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport's new international terminal Wednesday afternoon.
 
The first flight took off for Tokyo around 1:30 p.m.  The first flight in came from Ireland and landed shortly after 2 p.m. Both of them were Atlanta-based Delta flights.
 
"It's an awesome day for Delta," said Delta's CEO Richard Anderson. "There is no better international arrival and departure facility in the world than this facility, so we should all be proud of it."
 
Delta is one of the major stakeholders in the new international terminal. The building is 1.2 million square feet. It houses 12 new international gates and is expected to employ close to 1,000 people. It is also designed to make international travel more efficient and relieve pressure and congestion on the existing domestic terminals.
 
"When they arrive here, they will go through customs and border protection and walk out the front door," said airport General Manager Louis Miller. "No more having to get involved in rechecking their bags and going through security again."
 
Grace Ho, a pharmacy student at the University of Georgia, was a passenger on the first flight. She was heading to Tokyo to catch a connecting flight to Taiwan for her brother's wedding. She had no idea she was going to be on the first flight out of the new terminal until she left for the airport.
 
"It's exciting," said Ho. "I've never been to the opening of anything or the first of anything, so it's really good."
 
Anderson believes the new international terminal is crucial for Georgia's economy.
 
"Even if they don't travel internationally, it's really an important economic generator, if not the most important economic generator in Georgia," said Anderson.

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