USA. The Maryland Board of Public Works (BPW) today approved financial relief measures to support food and retail concessionaires at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. The package expands assistance previously enacted by BWI Marshall Airport in April 2020 to provide relief from the impact of COVID-19.
In addition, the airport company has extended its agreement with retail developer Fraport Maryland and with food and retail sub-tenants.
The rent relief and lease extensions approved today will support airport restaurants and retailers as they recover from the economic crisis brought on by the global pandemic. In a separate vote, the BPW also approved a fixed rent relief package for rental car companies at BWI Marshall.
“Our administration remains committed to helping the many local businesses, including airport restaurants and shops, that have been hit hard by the pandemic and its impact on travel,” said Governor Larry Hogan. “Last Spring, BWI Marshall Airport took aggressive action to help its concessions partners, and with the approval of this package, we will provide further assistance to help these businesses survive as the air travel industry recovers.”
“As Maryland’s economy rebounds from the effects of COVID-19, our concessions and their valuable employees will be crucial to providing the services air travellers need” – Maryland Transportation Secretary Greg Slater
Last April, BWI Marshall and its concessions developer, Fraport Maryland, provided fixed rent relief to the airport’s food and retail sub-tenants through to December 2020. Today’s BPW meeting and vote provides additional relief through to June 2021. The overall 15 months of waived fixed rent represents approximately US$16.4 million in relief. Beginning in July 2021, a tiered fixed rent structure will be in place until the end of the contract.
“These emergency relief measures will help provide stability for our airport partners,” said Maryland Transportation Secretary Greg Slater. “As Maryland’s economy rebounds from the effects of COVID-19, our concessions and their valuable employees will be crucial to providing the services air travellers need.”
“We are acting to save jobs, protect small businesses and ensure a strong level of service for our passengers” – BWI Marshall Airport Executive Director Ricky Smith
The BPW action also extends the agreement with Fraport Maryland for an additional year, until March 31, 2023. Subleases between Fraport and the food and retail operators will receive a two-year extension as part of the contract supplement approved by the board. The sublease extensions will give concessions subtenants added time to recover financially from the pandemic’s economic impact, said the airport company.
“Many of our airport concessions are small, minority-owned businesses that do not have the resources to withstand prolonged losses,” said Ricky Smith, Executive Director of BWI Marshall Airport. “We are acting to save jobs, protect small businesses and ensure a strong level of service for our passengers.”
The airport’s concessions programme includes about 120 locations and 192,000sq ft of assigned leased space. Currently, about 57% of BWI Marshall’s concessions are operating. In Spring 2020, only about 20% of shops and restaurants in the airport were open to travellers. In 2020, total concessions sales fell by about -61% compared to 2019.
For rental car companies at BWI Marshall, the fixed rent relief package approved today is retroactive from April to December 2020. Beginning 1 January until the end of the contract, the fixed rent is tiered. The total rent relief for rental car firms equates to about US$13 million.
BWI Marshall Airport served nearly 27 million passengers in 2019. At the low point in April 2020 during the early months of the pandemic, passenger traffic at BWI Marshall was down -96% compared to the previous year. While airline travel has stabilised in recent months, passenger traffic at BWI Marshall remains down about -60% compared to pre-pandemic levels.
