Six years after Airport Fuel Services, Inc. (AFS) lost its lease to operate a Mobil service station at the Martha’s Vineyard Airport, a convoluted dispute over how its 20-year tenure ended is headed back to court.

In a decision issued on June 2, the state Appeals Court said that Martha’s Vineyard Airport Commission erred in March 2017 when it opened competitive bids for a long-term lease in private, ultimately awarding the lease to a new tenant, Depot Corner, which now runs a Shell station there.

But the appellate court said that error “appears to have been an honest mistake” and did not merit overturning the entire bidding process.

The 18-page decision came in response to both parties appealing a Superior Court decision that granted summary judgment on various aspects of the case.

Writing for a three-judge panel, Appeals Court Justice Rachel Hershfang found that AFS had breached its lease with the Airport Commission when it failed to vacate the premises promptly after its 20-year lease expired in mid-March. After various legal gyrations, AFS was formally evicted by a judge effective July 31, 2017.

The court sent the case back for a trial in Dukes County Superior Court on the question of whether AFS was liable for unfair or deceptive practices under Chapter 93A, the state’s consumer protection law, or for damages for breaching its contract with the Airport Commission.

On the former issue, the appeals court said there were “genuine issues of material fact.”

“One could infer that AFS remained on the property because it believed, in good faith, that MVAC’s bid decision was invalid where MVAC engaged in a flawed bidding process. Or one could infer that AFS remained on the property and filed suit to pressure MVAC to withdraw its bid decision, or to obtain an advantage from MVAC, or for reasons of self-interest (for example to exploit the opportunities of a busy summer season),” judge Hershfang wrote.

“We can’t say as a matter of law whether either of these propositions is true,” she continued. “Thus we remand the claim for trial.”