Region : Airport Concession Fee Cut

Burbank Airport officials Monday slashed by nearly 40% the minimum fee for the airport’s restaurant concessionaire, saying the renegotiated contract was justified by declining passenger traffic.

Under the amended contract approved by the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, Host International Inc. will pay no more than $800,000 a year, down from $1.3 million under the old contract.

Host, which took over operation of the airport’s three bars, two restaurants and two snack bars in 1987, will continue as concessionaire until 1992 under the agreement approved Monday.

Passenger traffic at the airport has dropped from 3.2 million in 1987 to 2.7 million in 1989 and apparently is continuing to decline, airport spokesman Victor J. Gill said.

Because of the slump, which is occurring at airports throughout the nation, Host has been paying about 50% of its gross income to the authority, against a nationwide average for concessionaires of 15% to 20%, Gill said.