{{Short description|US airport concession operator}} {{distinguish|text=the catalog and e-commerce retailer SkyMall}} right|200px|thumb '''AirMall''' USA was a developer and manager of retail, food and beverage concessions at various US airports, with a major presence at Pittsburgh International Airport. In 2014 AirMall was acquired by the German Fraport Group, which continued the airport concession operations.
==History== The first AirMall opened at Pittsburgh International Airport in 1992. Today the company also operates AirMall at Baltimore/Washington International Airport and Boston's Logan International Airport, however Pittsburgh remains by far the largest. An AirMall opened at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport in the spring of 2009 as well. The stores in the AirMall were the first in the US to price their merchandise the same as they would at a store in a typical retail setting, a policy that was later followed by concessionaires at some other airports in the US.<ref name="sued"/>
Originally owned by BAA USA (then a subsidiary of BAA plc), AirMall was then owned by the New York-based investment company Prospect Capital Corporation. In August 2014 AirMall was acquired by the German Fraport Group, the operator of Frankfurt International Airport and another ten airports around the globe. Fraport has since merged its North American concessions business into its '''Fraport USA''' division.<ref name="fusa">{{cite web |url=https://www.fraport.com/en/our-group/our-airports-and-subsidiaries/Fraport-USA.html |title=Fraport USA |accessdate=30 July 2022}}</ref>
==Pittsburgh International Airport concessions== Opened along with the new airport in 1992, AirMall in Pittsburgh was the largest airport shopping complex in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.baausa.com/Content/PittsburghInternationalAirport.aspx |title=BAA USA - Pittsburgh International Airport |website=www.baausa.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060214104324/http://www.baausa.com/Content/PittsburghInternationalAirport.aspx |archive-date=2006-02-14}}</ref> The current mall, now under Fraport management, is located within the airport's airside terminal, mostly in the "Center Core" area, with some shops and restaurants extending into the concourses. Prior to 9/11, and the opening of The Mall at Robinson, the Airmall served as a shopping destination for residents of the western suburbs of Pittsburgh.
Because the mall is located beyond the security checkpoint, where only ticketed passengers and authorized personnel had been permitted for more than a decade after 9/11, and the reduction of the use of Pittsburgh International as a US Airways hub, sales have decreased in recent years. On April 13, 2007, it was announced that guests staying at the attached airport Hyatt hotel would be able to obtain passes to shop during their stay.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07103/777778-100.stm|title=Airport hotel guests to get Air Mall access|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|access-date=2017-09-04|language=en}}</ref> Even with sales being down due to US Airways cutbacks and the Great Recession, the AirMall in Pittsburgh still accounted for the highest per passenger spending of any airport in the country, at an average of $13.60/passenger.<ref>{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100618143850/http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_593919.html |title=Airport's mall leads nation in per-passenger spending |last=Pfister |first=Bonnie |date=18 October 2008 |accessdate=30 July 2022 |url=https://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_593919.html |archivedate=18 June 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
In 2017, Pittsburgh International became the first US commercial airport to allow the general public access to the area beyond the checkpoint. Visitors must first sign up for the "myPITpass" program on the airport's website; following approval, they must still pass the same security checks required of ticketed passengers.<ref name="opened">{{cite web |url=http://wesa.fm/post/airmall-pittsburgh-international-airport-opens-non-passengers#stream/0 |title=Airmall At Pittsburgh International Airport Opens To Non-Passengers |first2=Katie |last2=Blackley |first1=Kathleen J. |last1=Davis |date=5 September 2017 |publisher=WESA (FM)}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://triblive.com/local/allegheny/12669024-74/access-to-pittsburgh-airports-shops-and-restaurants-to-open-to-nonpassengers|title=Pittsburgh airport's gates, shops, restaurants to open to non-flyers|publisher=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania}}</ref> The Association of Professional Flight Attendants condemned the move.<ref name="opened"/>
After the Allegheny County Airport Authority moved to end Fraport's concession lease at the Pittsburgh airport, Fraport sued; the case went to trial in 2022.<ref name="sued">{{cite news |url=https://www.post-gazette.com/business/development/2022/07/14/pittsburgh-international-airport-fraport-airmall-concessions-allegheny-county-airport-authority-common-pleas-court/stories/202207140064 |title=Airport, airmall operator bartered over possible buyout, witness testifies |author-first=Mark |author-last=Belko |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |date=14 July 2022 |accessdate=30 July 2022}}</ref> The airport authority cited lax safety standards by Fraport for pulling the lease; Fraport denied this.<ref name="sued"/> As of May 2023, The Allegheny County Airport authority appeals ruling ordering the return of evicted AirMall operator.
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{official website|http://www.airmall.com}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20061027011711/http://www.flypittsburgh.com/AirportGuideServlet?action=airside&category=shops Pittsburgh Airmall Guide]
{{Pittsburgh Shopping}} {{coord|40.49591|-80.24697|type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-PA|display=title}}
Category:Airport infrastructure Category:Retail companies established in 1992 Category:1992 establishments in Pennsylvania Category:Retail companies disestablished in 2014 Category:2014 disestablishments in Pennsylvania Category:2014 mergers and acquisitions Category:Shopping malls established in 1992