STERLING, Va. (CBSDC/AP) — International passengers at Dulles airport are expected to benefit from newly completed construction on an expanded building to process arrivals.

Airport officials say the new space is twice as large as the old, and designed to serve up to 2,400 passengers per hour. The building’s original design in 1991 had an expected capacity of only 1,400 passengers an hour.

The expansion is designed to accommodate continued growth of international traffic at Dulles. In 2011, a record 6.5 million of Dulles’ 23.2 million total passengers were international travelers. International traffic at Dulles has risen every year since 2003.

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