Template revised April 12, 2018.
COMMISSION
AGENDA MEMORANDUM
Item No.
6f
ACTION ITEM
Date of Meeting
August 11, 2020
DATE: June 3, 2020
TO: Stephen P. Metruck, Executive Director
FROM: Lance Lyttle, Managing Director, Aviation
James Jennings, Director, Aviation Business and Properties
SUBJECT: Request for authorization for early termination of an agreement between the Port
and Xiamen Airlines
Amount of this request:
N/A
Total estimated project cost:
N/A
ACTION REQUESTED
Request Commission authorization for the Executive Director to execute an Early Termination
Agreement (form of which is approved by the Port’s legal team) to terminate the 2018-2022
Signatory Lease and Operating Agreement (SLOA) between the Port of Seattle (Port) and Xiamen
Airlines in advance of its scheduled expiration of December 31, 2022.
SUMMARY
Xiamen Airlines began service between Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) and Shenzhen
(SZX) on September 26, 2016. After three years of service, Xiamen elected to discontinue the
service due to difficulties in establishing themselves in the market, compounded by rising US-
China tensions regarding international trade practices; they performed their last flight at SEA on
September 25, 2019. Under the terms of the SLOA, Xiamen mostly utilized Common Use
Premises, the fees for which are based on activity. Thus, now that Xiamen is not flying, they are
not incurring any of these fees. Xiamen did have an exclusive office, but a new tenant has been
found to lease that space. Xiamen’s account is in good standing, with no outstanding payments
due to the Port. Thus, terminating the Xiamen SLOA early will have no financial impact on the
Port.
Keeping the SLOA in place requires Xiamen to provide the Port evidence of liability insurance and
surety. As Xiamen no longer has a physical presence at SEA, and the airline is not incurring any
charges or conducting operations at SEA, neither of these requirements provide a benefit to the
Port, thus there is no harm to the Port to allow the early termination of the SLOA between the
Port and Xiamen.
There are no attachments to this memo.
