Young baton-twirlers were part of National's inauguration ceremony. Juana Arias/TWP

t didn't take long yesterday for the "New National" to look like an old hand at moving airline passengers.

Within hours of the parade, speeches and ribbon-cutting that marked yesterday's early morning opening of National Airport's new $450 million terminal, passengers were catching cabs at the curbs, sipping cappuccinos in the food courts, catching flights and collecting their bags as if the place had been in business for years.

"It opened today?" asked a surprised Robert Essenhigh, an engineering professor at Ohio State University who was having a midmorning coffee in the terminal's north pier after the jazz band and dignitaries who met one of the day's first flights had disappeared. "I had heard it was new, but I couldn't tell."

As she read a newspaper while awaiting her flight, Patti Volz, of Arlington, a federal worker flying on business to Providence, R.I., said, "It's been easy, and I'm one who has avoided National . . . and gone to Dulles."

All the expense of construction at National -- about $1 billion in all, including new roads and parking garages -- and all the planning and dress rehearsals to make yesterday's start-up run smoothly paid off, airport officials said.

"This is the moment we've all been waiting for, and people seem to be adapting to it very well," said Frank Holly, who, as the airport's chief engineer, has overseen the construction for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which operates National and Dulles International airports.

Not that all went entirely without a hitch. At least one jetway refused to work properly, forcing passengers to leave a Delta Air Lines plane by stairs at the rear of the aircraft. About half the courtesy telephones to hotels were not yet installed, and some of the building's computerized locker systems were not operating. And airline employees, faced with a barrage of questions about an unfamiliar facility, sometimes gave confusing information.

The phones at Delta's Business Express were inoperable in the early morning, and the 8:20 a.m. flight to Boston was delayed nearly an hour while airline officials issued handwritten dispatch instructions to flight controllers to get the plane on its way.

"I'm sure there are some glitches, and we'll be keeping an eye on them," airport spokeswoman Tara Hamilton said. "For another week or two, we'll still be working on the building."

The traditionally busy Sunday travel rush was augmented by hundreds of curiosity seekers who lit up the place with flashbulbs and in some cases used binoculars to gaze out the building's five-story glass wall for a view of the Potomac River and Washington's monuments.

At one point, the lines for two popular eateries, Chesapeake Bagel Bakery and TCBY yogurt, were so long that they met and blocked foot traffic in the middle pier.

Travelers and visitors browsed and shopped in the dozens of stores.

"It's just the place to buy Christmas presents for friends in France," said Susan Baldwin, a teacher from McLean.

In the early afternoon, Johnnie Cochran, O.J. Simpson's lead defense attorney, caused a mini-sensation as he strode through the terminal, stopping to sign autographs.

"It's nice," Cochran said. "You don't see shops like these at other airports."

Yesterday's start-up followed a night of frantic activity at the airport, as planes and other equipment were moved from the interim and main terminals to new gate positions and signs were changed to bring passengers into the new facility. Finally, the interim terminal, home to US Airways and Delta for eight years, was locked up. It will be turned back into a hangar.

At the new terminal, crews scrambled to add last-minute touches. At 4 a.m., workers still were installing "Arrivals" and "Departures" signs over flight schedule monitors.

A 7 a.m. parade, led by West Potomac High School's marching band and 30 baton twirlers from Waldorf, brought a dozen officials, including D.C. Mayor Marion Barry and U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater, to the new terminal's north ticketing area.

"It's so corny, it's sweet," airports authority worker Charlotte Peed said as she and several dozen arriving passengers watched the small procession roll up the roadway. "It's a real touch of Americana."

After a half-dozen official speeches welcoming the airport, Slater declared the terminal open for business at 7:55 a.m. -- about 20 minutes before a US Airways flight from Albany, N.Y., cruised under a ceremonial arch of water sprayed by two airport fire engines and docked at Gate 36. Actually, the first flight to arrive at the new terminal -- with no fanfare -- was a Piedmont Airlines commuter flight from Salisbury, Md., that pulled up at 7 a.m.

The first takeoff from the new terminal was American Airlines Flight 335 to Dallas-Fort Worth, which left at 6:15 a.m. There also were a ribbon-cutting, balloons, refreshments and the traditional spray of water for that flight, which had 190 passengers aboard -- including 25 Washington area youths in the Reach for Tomorrow aviation club.

The first traveler to check in for the Dallas-Fort Worth flight at the new terminal was Madeline Mowery, 54, a Manassas real estate agent. She arrived at 4:15 a.m. -- early, she said, because she caught a ride with an airline employee. She was given a red carnation for being the flight's first arrival.

The Reach for Tomorrow youngsters were headed to Dallas for what amounted to an aviation field trip, a first flight for some and a visit to some of American Airlines' operations there.

Teresa Parker was there to send off her daughter, Bernetrice, who will be a ninth-grader at Wilson High School in Washington.

"You made history today, baby!" Teresa Parker said as her excited 13-year-old headed to her flight.

Staff writer Justin Blum contributed to this report.

Twin jets of water spray over the ceremonial first flight into the new National. Gerald Martineau/TWP