Airport Check-in: International Arrivals building opens

— -- Washington Dulles has opened an expanded International Arrivals building that doubles its capacity to handle passengers.

The new 41,000-square-foot passenger queuing area includes 50 booths for Customs officials to process arriving passengers and flight crews. It features higher ceilings, flat-screen TVs and large windows with a view of the landmark terminal designed by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen.

The new facility will allow Customs and Border Protection to process about 2,400 passengers per hour, nearly double the current capacity.

The original building was built in 1991 when Dulles had about 1.4 million international passengers a year. It now handles about 6.2 million.

The next phases of the expansion of Dulles will include construction of a new baggage-handling facility and installation of new equipment. The project will add about 206,000 square feet to the airport's facilities. It is estimated to be completed in 2011.

Dulles is in the middle of a multiyear improvement program. It includes a recently opened security checkpoint mezzanine and an underground train system that will open later this year.

WHAT'S NEW

•Chicago O'Hare

has committed numerous safety violations that were found during routine inspections by federal officials, according to the Chicago Tribune, which obtained a "letter of correction" sent by the Federal Aviation Administration to the airport.

The violations range from runway debris to tall grass and weeds that attract birds, as well as "a pattern of false statements in its self-inspection program," the newspaper reports. "The daily self-inspection records do not reflect actual conditions in the field, violations have not been noted on the self-inspection records that are evident in the field," the FAA said in its letter.

Karen Pride, an airport spokeswoman, told the newspaper that most of the violations have already been corrected. Some other issues — such as training airfield workers and filing accurate self-inspection reports — will be resolved by the end of November, she said.

•Alaska Airlines

began daily, non-stop service last week between Houston's Bush Intercontinental and Seattle. It will fly Boeing 737 aircraft.

•United Airlines

will add two routes from Denver, fueling competition with low-cost carriers there. Starting Dec. 17, United, the city's dominant carrier, will add two daily round-trip flights to Midland, Texas, and one to Louisville. Both Southwest Airlines and Frontier have added new routes from Denver in recent weeks.

Every Monday, we report on the latest news in airports across the USA. See something noteworthy in your travels? E-mail your suggestions to ryu@usatoday.com.