Latest news with #costs
CTV News
4 hours ago
- Business
- CTV News
Vancouver World Cup planning in ‘zone of unknowns' awaiting FIFA details
The hundreds of millions of dollars are expected to be spent on the FIFA World Cup despite the ongoing trade war, and costs are still set to balloon.
RNZ News
a day ago
- Business
- RNZ News
The price of flying: 'Everywhere you look, costs are increasing'
Costs are increasing for airlines from a variety of sources, with the burden largely passed on to their passengers. Photo: Mongkol Chuewong Regional aviation will become increasingly unsustainable and ticket prices will continue to rise until the government takes action on aviation system costs, say airlines. Sounds Air announced this week that it will be cutting its Blenheim to Christchurch and Christchurch to Wanaka routes due to spiralling costs. Sounds Air chief executive Andrew Crawfords has cited rising levies as a contributing factor to the cuts, even though there is still demand on those routes. "Where are we supposed to get that from? We've just got to pull that on the travelling public." More services will be lost if there is not a reset of the investment structure of our air industry, says the Board of Airline Representatives. Executive director Cath O'Brien told RNZ the news that Sounds was cutting operations was not surprising. "We have seen substantial increases in aviation costs in New Zealand over the last year or so and really there is nowhere else to go for airlines." O'Brien said the country needed to take a responsible look at all of the costs that were currently being levied on the aviation system. "Civil Aviation levies are up, Airways costs have risen by 21 percent potentially, Auckland Airport prices for regional airlines increased by 60 percent between 2023 and 2024 "So everywhere you look, costs are increasing for airlines." She said those costs were "absolutely" being passed on to customers. "So we need to have a look at airport charges, we need to have a look at the Civil Aviation levies, and say how much should these charges be allowed to increase altogether over time. "Because at the moment, all of these individual charges increase one by one all of the time, so every single one airport will increase its charges, the CAA will, Airways will, Customs will. So the effect of all that is that airlines will constantly increase prices over time." She said regional aviation was becoming commercially unsustainable and it was a real challenge for New Zealand as a whole. "The thing is with New Zealand is our aviation system is user pays, so all parts of the system are funded by airlines and their customers, so CAA levies, Customs, biosecurity, air traffic control, airport charges, all of that is funded by airlines. And in other countries that's not the case, but in this country that's where we are." In a statement, the Civil Aviation Authority said it was "acutely aware" of the financial pressures smaller operators are facing. It said the new safety levies came into effect on 1 July and were the first adjustment since 2017. "The domestic safety levy has gone from $1.60 per passenger, to $3.92 per passenger, excluding GST. "The CAA works to ensure the travelling public are safe when they fly, and like all government agencies, is also working to ensure that it delivers value for money to the travelling public and the sector to maximum extent practically possible." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
2 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Sounds Air cut flying routes as costs surge
Sounds Air managing director Andrew Crawford says aviation has been severely hit by escalating costs, supply chain challenges and a weak New Zealand dollar. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King Sounds Air is cutting two regional services, saying it's facing 'out of control' costs. The airline will no longer fly Blenheim to Christchurch or Christchurch to Wānaka from the end of September. Last December, it stopped flying Wellington to Taupō and Wellington to Westport. Sounds Air managing director Andrew Crawford told Nine to Noon aviation has been severely hit by escalating costs, supply chain challenges and a weak New Zealand dollar that's threatened the viability of all regional airlines. He said the irony is that bookings have never been better, but they've exhausted all other options and need to reduce regional services. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
BBC News
5 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Wildflowers planted for £75 after Stockton Council quotes £2k
Councillors spent £75 of their own money to plant wildflowers in a village after being quoted more than £2,000 by a council. The three Conservatives said they took matters into their own hands when they were quoted £2,300 by Stockton Council to plant wildflowers on land at the junction of Birkdale Road and Darlington Road, Hall, Niall Innes and Jason French said they wanted to "deliver a colourful and environmentally friendly project themselves, without the sky-high costs proposed". The Labour-run council's environment lead Nigel Cooke said it would cost much more for the council to complete the job "properly" and maintain the patch. The councillors, along with Stockton West Conservative MP Matt Vickers, bought wildflower seeds and a seed spreader for £75 and prepared the ground and sowed the seeds said the four-figure sum "simply doesn't add up" while Mr Innes said it was "mind blowing that we've been able to achieve this for just £75".French said this year's planting was a trial and, while admitting they are "not master gardeners", they hope to improve coverage next year as some areas "are a little sparse". Care For Your Area had provided annual wildflower planting since 2017, but costs rose over the years to the latest figure of £2.38 per square metre, the Local Democracy Reporting Service Cooke said he was "not going to criticise councillors for doing work in their own time" but was "a little bit taken aback" by the criticisms of the authority. He said: "There's a lot of work in planting wildflower seeds. They have to prepare the area."Each area the council does needs two separate treatments of herbicide. Then the team have to return to rotavate the area and return again to spread the seeds."Then they'd come back at agreed intervals to pull weeds up."Clearly that's a lot more work than just buying a seed spreader and spreading a few seeds on the ground. So it costs money." Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
CBC
5 days ago
- Health
- CBC
The price of inadequate mental health care
A CBC News analysis estimates one woman's costs at over $800,000 and rising. In Ontario, two main camps are lobbying for change, with very different ideas on how to go about it.
