Pittsburgh International Airport, considered one of the nicest facilities in the country, will pay $10.5 million to settle a lawsuit with an air mall that it evicted last year.
The Allegheny County Airport Authority board evicted all the mall’s tenants last year after claiming that the mall owners were in default of their agreement.
This settlement brings the saga to an end.
The agreed-upon settlement is a “full and final settlement of all claims either party may have against each other.”
The airport board had originally offered mall owners $5.5 million to buy out the remainder of its lease leading to the 14-month litigation. Mall operators originally wanted $20 million. It is not known whether the $10.5 million that is owed by the airport will be a lump-sum payment or repaid over time.
The airport also has to pay its legal firm $1.1 million for representing it during the case.
Still to be determined by the Pennsylvania Superior Court is a case in which the mall operators have asked to continue to run the mall.
“The settlement — $10.5 million — is in the best interest of both parties. This is good news and is something that we have been seeking,” authority solicitor Jeffrey Letwin said in a statement. “We look forward to moving on and enhancing the passenger experience at PIT both at the existing terminal and new terminal opening in 2025 as we go further for all.”
Sabine Trenk, CEO of Fraport USA, which owns the mall, said she was pleased with the outcome.
The two sides agreed that the ruling will not be misconstrued as an admission of guilt by either party.
The Airport Authority will now run all concessions at the airport. The Authority also agreed it would drop its case in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. One of the claims by the airport was that the mall operators abandoned a restaurant that was easily accessible and had alcohol and metal knives that could be easily taken beyond the security checkpoints.
Fraport denied the claim and said that the airport was just looking for any excuse to get out of its lease, which ran until 2029. The air mall was popular with travelers because it was required by Pennsylvania state law to keep its prices in line with off-airport stores.
A spokesman for the airport said that will not change and was never part of the lawsuit.
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