First international flight for Miami International South Terminal

First international flight for Miami International South Terminal The first international flight at Miami International Airport's new South Terminal arrived Friday under a temporary permit, and regular flights will begin arriving Sept. 24 after the concourse receives a final security sweep.
   Miami-Dade Aviation Department Director Jos' Abreu said an Air France flight arrived at the South Terminal, also known as Concourse J, after the Federal Inspection Service completed a security sweep of the third, fourth, and fifth floor areas.
   By next week, LAN, TACA, and TAM airlines will begin operating flights at the new terminal.
   The $1.1 billion South Terminal has 27 gates and an adjoining cruise slip bus Terminal.
   A ticket counter started operations at Concourse J on Aug. 29, as reported in Florida Caribbean Connection, but full operations are only now getting underway.
   'The opening of South Terminal marks an exciting time for all of us at MIA,' Abreu said. 'This is the first major expansion since Concourse A opened, adding 1.5 million square feet of new space and 200,000 square feet of renovated space in Concourse H.'
   In addition to the new South Terminal, construction is underway on the $2.85 billion North Terminal project. That terminal will be used by American Airlines, by far the largest carrier at the airport, as well as its Oneworld alliance partners. That terminal will be opened in phases as construction is completed, with the entire project expected to be 'substantially completed' by 2011, according to airport planners.