BC Ferries reports busiest-ever spring for vehicle traffic, despite cancellations
BC Ferries vessels carried more vehicles between April 1 and June 30 of this year than during any other first quarter in the company's history, according to financial results announced Thursday.
The first-quarter results show revenue, net earnings and spending are also up this year as a 74 per cent increase in vehicle traffic and a 42 per cent increase in foot traffic over last year have returned the ferry service to pre-pandemic levels.
"We are emerging from the pandemic grateful to the federal and provincial governments for pandemic relief funding, and to BC Ferries’ employees for their commitment to put safety first, operate in the public interest, and ensure ferry travel is as reliable as possible," BC Ferries interim president and CEO Jill Sharland said in a news release accompanying the quarterly results.
Revenues at the ferry company rose by $35.7 million over the same period in 2021, largely due to higher traffic volumes. Net earnings increased from $4.7 million in the first quarter of 2021 to $7.9 million this year.
The company's operating expenses for the first quarter of this year were $242.1 million, an increase of $31.3 million compared to the same period last year, the ferry service said.
The spending increase was attributed to an increase in sailings, which drove higher labour and fuel consumption costs at a time when fuel prices were rising globally.
The company acknowledged that crew shortages and cancelled sailings remain a challenge for the ferry service and the travellers who rely on it.
"The company apologizes to its customers for these service interruptions and continues to take all reasonable steps to reduce the impact to the travelling public," the company said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
Canada's favourite sport to watch is hockey, survey shows
The 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs have already delivered a fever level of fan excitement in Canada.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
NASA hears from Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, after months of quiet
NASA has finally heard back from Voyager 1 again in a way that makes sense. The most distant spacecraft from Earth hadn't sent home any understandable data since last November.