USA. Dallas Fort Worth International is to extend the contracts of F&B, retail and services concessionaires across 226 locations by two further years in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is one of several measures approved by the airport board this month.
Another is to extend the suspension of Minimum Annual Guarantees by a further six months through to 30 September 2021.
For some leases, the airport will also delay percentage rent escalation by two years to 30 September 2023. In addition the board approved a waiver of all operating & maintenance and storage fees from 1 March 2021 to 30 September 2021.
As reported, Dallas Fort Worth International was among the first airports in North America to respond to concessionaires’ calls for relief when the COVID-19 crisis struck. In early April 2020 its board ratified a crucial plan to move commercial partners from MAG-based fee models to a rent structure based on a percentage of sales.
It also allowed concessionaires struggling amid the COVID-19 crisis to relinquish space without penalties or repercussions for their existing leases – an initiative also extended this month through to 30 September.
With the extension of these relief measures, by September the airport will have provided its concessionaires with US$120 million of financial support.
While some capital projects have been put on hold, Dallas Fort Worth International is to renovate Terminal C, the only terminal that has not been upgraded in recent years. It mainly serves American Airlines domestic flights.
* Dallas Fort Worth International Airport CEO Sean Donohue is a speaker in the Knowledge Hub at the forthcoming Summit of the Americas – A Virtual Experience (5-9 April). In a session titled ‘The CEO Chair’ on 6 April he will discuss the impact of the crisis on the airport, its support measures for business partners and how DFW expects a strong recovery in domestic traffic through the rest of 2021. Click here for more details on the agenda and for registration (free for airports and travel retailers).
