BC Ferries to offer beer and wine on buffet between Vancouver and Victoria - Global News

After months of internal discussion, BC Ferries has decided to add beer and wine to the Pacific Buffet menu on a trial basis, starting in late October.An internal memo leaked in April suggested the company wanted to launch the pilot this summer to capture the busy season. The pilot includes only three vessels on the Tsawwassen – Swartz Bay route.“Many of our customers have said they would like to have a glass of wine or beer with their meal while sailing with us,” Executive Director of Catering and Terminal Operations Melanie Lucia said.“We look for ways to enhance the customer experience and are pleased to now offer these beverages in the Pacific Buffet.”WATCH: Some concerns about liquor on BC Ferries


from Business - Latest - Google News https://ift.tt/2N6TgRQ
via IFTTT
September 10, 2019 at 12:37AM

Canadian passengers scramble after British Airways cancels flights due to strike - CTV News

The Associated Press
Published Monday, September 9, 2019 2:52AM EDT
Last Updated Monday, September 9, 2019 3:48PM EDT

LONDON -- Canadian travel agencies are scrambling to help passengers whose British Airways flights have been cancelled on Monday and Tuesday after a pilots strike grounded the global carrier.

The airline says more than a dozen flights between Canada and London are slated to be cancelled over the two days, affecting about 3,500 passengers based on the size of the scheduled aircraft.

Toronto's Pearson International Airport is most impacted with four flights each day. One arrival and one departure are cancelled over the two days in Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary.

"Customers were sent email notifications if they have been affected," British Airways said in an advisory to travel agents.

Passengers can receive refunds or rebook for later flights. They may also be able to rebook on partner airlines such as American Airlines, Finnair and Aer Lingus, if seats are available.

Toronto travel agency TTI Travel says some customers have called to inquire but there doesn't appear to be any alarm.

"We've been looking at flights and trying to re-accommodate them and make some decisions around how we support them and what those options are," said TTI vice-president Lucy Lavigna.

Air Canada says it has added larger aircraft on the route between Toronto and London-Heathrow to accommodate increased demand it has seen in recent days.

"Last night we operated one flight on the route (we have four flights daily) with a 400-seat, Boeing 777 instead of the scheduled 298-seat Boeing 787-9, and will do the same tonight," said spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick by email.

"That makes for a total of about 400 extra seats in the market. We continue to monitor the situation, but there are no plans for additional capacity at this time, in part because our aircraft are already committed under the existing schedule."

WestJet Airlines said it's "business as usual" for the Calgary-based airline.

British Airways cancelled almost all its flights for 48 hours, affecting as many as 195,000 travellers, due to a strike by pilots over pay.

The U.K.'s flagship carrier said in a statement Monday that it had "no way of predicting how many (pilots) would come to work or which aircraft they are qualified to fly."

As a result, it said it had "no option but to cancel nearly 100 per cent" of its flights for the duration of the strike.

"We have supplemented our fleet by using aircraft and crew from other airlines (wet-leasing) and working with our partner airlines to schedule larger aircraft to take the maximum number of customers," said the trade support website that details customer guidelines.

British Airways operates up to 850 flights a day. London's sprawling Heathrow Airport was most affected by the work stoppage as it is the airline's hub and is used for many of the company's long-haul international flights.

The departure area at Heathrow Terminal 5 was almost empty, with only a handful of BA flights set to leave on Monday.

There were no queues at any of the check-in desks or security gates and only a handful of people waiting on benches. The terminal is typically quite busy.

British Airways said it stands ready to return to talks with the pilots' union, Balpa, and that it has offered all affected customers full refunds or the option to rebook. The airline had been preparing for weeks for the strike, giving travellers advanced notice.

"We understand the frustration and disruption Balpa's strike action has caused our customers," it said.

"After many months of trying to resolve the pay dispute, we are extremely sorry that it has come to this."

British Airways says it has offered pilots an 11.5 per cent pay raise over three years but the union says its members want a bigger share of the company's profits.

The union accuses British Airways of making big profits at the expense of workers who made sacrifices during hard times. British Airways' parent company, IAG, made a net profit of 2.9 billion euros (US$3.2 billion) last year.

Union leader Brian Strutton said pilots are determined to be heard.

"They've previously taken big pay cuts to help the company through hard times. Now BA is making billions of pounds of profit, its pilots have made a fair, reasonable and affordable claim for pay and benefits."

A further strike is penciled in for Sept. 27.

-- With files from The Canadian Press

There is Industrial Action planned by the pilots’ union, BALPA on 9 and 10 September 2019. We apologise for the significant impact this will have on our flights. If your flight is cancelled, please don’t go to the airport. For the latest info, visit https://t.co/rPEgyOeVyh.

— British Airways (@British_Airways) September 7, 2019

from Business - Latest - Google News https://ift.tt/2Q2TKuD
via IFTTT
September 10, 2019 at 02:48AM

Oil Rises As New Saudi Oil Minister Hints At Further Cuts - OilPrice.com

Saudi Arabia reassured oil markets on Monday that the oil policy of OPEC’s largest producer and de facto leader wouldn’t change radically under its new energy minister, who also appeared to signal that further cuts could address the global glut.  

According to AFP, Saudi Arabia’s newly appointed Energy Minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman—the first royal to hold the oil minister’s post in the Kingdom—said at an energy conference in Abu Dhabi on Monday:

“Cutting output will benefit all members of OPEC.”  

The Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) of the OPEC and non-OPEC countries part of the deal meets in Abu Dhabi later this week to take stock of the oil market, and it could discuss further cuts.

Suhail Al Mazrouei, the energy minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), told Khaleej Times that “Anything that the group sees that will balance the market, we are committed to discuss it and hopefully go and do whatever necessary.”

However, the minister added a note of caution, saying “But I wouldn't suggest to jump to cuts every time that we have an issue on trade tensions.”

OPEC and its allies in the production cut pact have managed to put a floor under oil prices, but they have so far failed to prop the price of oil to a level that would balance most of OPEC members’ budgets. Trade tensions and fears of global economic slowdown have made oil market participants pessimistic about global oil demand growth this year. Rising non-OPEC production, particularly from the United States, is also offsetting part of the OPEC+ coalition’s cuts, and some analysts believe that deeper cuts may be necessary.

With market sentiment pessimistic about oil demand growth and with rising U.S. crude oil production, Saudi Arabia needs to take action sooner rather than later to support oil prices at least around US$60 a barrel Brent, IHS Markit said at the end of August.

Earlier in August, Emma Richards, senior industry analyst at Fitch Solutions, said that in the current gloomy market sentiment, OPEC would need to deepen the production cuts by 1 million bpd if the cartel wants to move up the price of oil.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:

from Business - Latest - Google News https://ift.tt/2ZOIu9K
via IFTTT
September 10, 2019 at 02:00AM

Kater sets sights on all of BC - BC News - Castanet.net

Photo: Glacier Media

Ride-hailing company Kater Technologies says it has officially applied for a licence that would allow it to operate in every region of British Columbia.

A statement from the company says B.C. is one of the last areas of North America without ride-hailing and the province now has an opportunity to introduce the service in the "right way."

Kater CEO Scott Larson says the company hopes to launch operations across Metro Vancouver, Victoria, Nanaimo and the Okanagan by this winter, with operations in other B.C. regions rolling out over the next 12 months.

Kater is also proposing a system of pricing that would slide from a minimum of 90 per cent of current taxi rates to a maximum of 200 per cent, a range it says addresses consumer concerns about prices rising when demand is higher.

Transportation Minister Claire Trevena said last week that eight ride-hailing companies, including Uber, had filed licence applications with the Passenger Transportation Branch of her ministry.

A coalition of nine Vancouver taxi companies has asked the B.C. Supreme Court to quash policies it says were illegally created for ride-hailing, arguing binding guidelines for ride-hailing services should not have been set before individual applications were heard.

Kater's goal is to serve growing consumer demand while improving "inherent downsides" linked to other ride-hailing providers, Larson says in the statement.

The company says it will include approximately 250 wheelchair accessible vehicles in its network and will also use location-based pricing and driver incentives to encourage Kater drivers not to abandon suburban service during peak hours.

"Assuming that the Passenger Transportation Board approves our pricing model, our drivers are projected to earn at least $25 for every hour that they are active on the Kater platform," says the statement.

Kater addresses congestion and pollution concerns by pledging that no more than 2,000 of its cars will be on the road at any given time.

Its statement says it also intends to integrate taxis into its operating platform, a move the company says will support the taxi services already in operation.

The coalition of Vancouver taxi companies has said new provincial ride-hailing rules amount to "destructive competition" because they allow so-called transportation network services to offer an unlimited number of vehicles in broader geographic areas compared with cabs.

from Business - Latest - Google News https://ift.tt/2NTJlia
via IFTTT
September 10, 2019 at 03:37AM

Stornoway Diamond saved - Business News - Castanet.net

Photo: Contributed

Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd. has signed a deal to acquire Stornoway Diamond Corp. with the help of the mining company's secured creditors.

Under the terms of the agreement, Osisko and Stornoway secured creditors want to form an entity that will acquire the company and assume the debts and liabilities owing to the secured creditors as well as the obligations relating to the operation of the Renard mine.

Osisko will also keep receiving its 9.6 per cent revenue stream from diamonds at the Renard mine, but has agreed to reinvest its proceeds from the stream for one year from the date of closing of the proposed credit bid transaction.

In connection with the proposal, Stornoway has applied to the Superior Court of Quebec for protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act in order to restructure its business.

Osisko and a group of the secured creditors have agreed to provide $20 million in working capital secured by Stornoway's assets.

The money will provide the financing and liquidity required to ensure that the Renard mine continues to operate uninterrupted.

from Business - Latest - Google News https://ift.tt/2LpbOeg
via IFTTT
September 09, 2019 at 10:20PM

British Airways grounds nearly all flights as pilots strike - CBC News

Saudi King installs prince as oil minister as Al-Falih ousted - BNNBloomberg.ca

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman dismissed Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih and replaced him with one of his sons, putting a royal family member in charge of oil policy in the world’s largest crude exporter for the first time.

Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, a longtime top Energy Ministry official, is an older half-brother to the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. It wasn’t immediately clear why Al-Falih was removed, but analysts and officials said the decision is unlikely to signal a change in the kingdom’s oil policy.

The ouster late Saturday caps a week that saw Al-Falih unexpectedly stripped of his responsibility for overseeing industrial development and removed as chairman of Saudi Aramco as the world’s most profitable company prepares for an initial public offering.

Al-Falih, who reportedly pushed back against the IPO, had been the face of OPEC diplomacy over the past three years in a struggle to counter the rising tide of U.S. shale oil that flooded markets. The new minister takes charge as the producers’ group and its allies, most notably Russia, try to bolster prices at a time when a raging trade war between the U.S. and China weighs on global demand.

Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose as much as 0.9 per cent to $62.09 a barrel as of 10:43 a.m. in Singapore on Monday, advancing for a fourth session. Prices have gained about 15 per cent so far this year.

“The changing of ministers happen and it doesn’t mean change in strategy,” Suhail Al Mazrouei, oil minister of fellow OPEC member the United Arab Emirates, told Bloomberg TV in an interview on Sunday in Abu Dhabi.

“Prince Abdulaziz is very decisive, he has a strong personality when it comes to the market. He understands the benefits to all the producers of the leadership role of Saudi Arabia to balance the market and I am not expecting changes,” he said.

The prince wasn’t part of the top team that helped the crown prince launch his sweeping economic reforms in 2016 but was promoted to state minister for energy affairs a year later. In that role, he oversaw a breakthrough in talks with fellow OPEC member Kuwait to resume output in the neutral zone between the two countries after a four-year halt.

A Russian official said his country intends to maintain its critical oil alliance with Saudi Arabia even after the removal of Al-Falih, who had built a strong relationship with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak. The official, who asked not to be identified, said Prince Abdulaziz has played an important role to boost cooperation between the two countries.

Saudi Arabia has cut production to less than 10 million barrels a day as part of an agreement with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to limit output and support prices. The Saudis are doing the most to support the deal, pumping about 500,000 barrels a day less than they pledged.

OPEC and its allies, known collectively as OPEC+, are scheduled to meet on Sept. 12 in Abu Dhabi to review their strategy to help balance global oil markets.

Until Prince Abdulaziz’s overnight appointment, the oil ministry had been headed by civilian technocrats since 1960. His elevation concentrates more power within the immediate family of King Salman, who ascended to the throne in 2015.

His son, Crown Prince Mohammed, controls the levers of policy from security to energy. The king also appointed another son, Prince Khalid Bin Salman, as deputy defense minister after serving as ambassador to the U.S.

Analysts said they don’t expect the kingdom’s priorities to be different under the new minister.

“The priority remains removing the lingering threat of another crude price swoon by preventing stock builds,” said Bob McNally, president of Rapidan Energy Group.

Following an eight-year stint as an adviser to the late Saudi Oil Minister Hisham Nazer, Prince Abdulaziz became Deputy Oil Minister in 1995, a post he occupied until 2004, when he was named assistant to the minister. He headed a team of ministry officials and Aramco executives to lay out and update the kingdom’s oil strategy, according to the ministry’s website.

He was also in charge of a committee to regulate domestic energy and water prices as part of the government’s plan to reduce subsidies.

Majd Dola, a portfolio manager at First Abu Dhabi Bank, suggested that while the prince may bring “new tactics” to the negotiations over global oil policy, the forces affecting prices at the moment were beyond the kingdom’s control.

“If you look at oil from a macro perspective I don’t think at the moment we’re facing a supply issue,” he told Bloomberg TV. “The trade war is weighing down on growth and that’s weighing down on oil.”

from Business - Latest - Google News https://ift.tt/2UIazcS
via IFTTT
September 09, 2019 at 10:25AM