Super Rugby Pacific: Blues CEO Andrew Hore to stand down
Hore has been Blues CEO since 2019, guiding them through the Covid-19 pandemic before steering them to glory, capturing the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific championship, ending a 21-year title drought.
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Otago Daily Times
3 minutes ago
- Otago Daily Times
Loss of flights another blow for Wānaka patients
Photo: Sounds Air Travel and Tourism Limited The loss of two popular regional flights is a blow to tourism and people needing treatment at Christchurch Hospital. Sounds Air will stop its flights from Blenheim to Christchurch and Christchurch to Wānaka from the end of September due to what has been described as 'out of control' costs. Are you affected by the loss of flights between Wānaka and Christchurch? Email reporters@ Sounds Air managing director Andrew Crawford said the airline was flying more passengers than ever but could not keep up with the costs that have remained high since the pandemic, engineer shortages and the weak New Zealand dollar. Sounds Air said it was going back to basics, canning the two routes, selling five smaller aircraft, and expanding its Cessna Caravan fleet for Cook Strait services. Ten staff will lose their jobs. That was after cancelling its services from Wellington to Taupō and Wellington to Westport last December and selling an aircraft. The Minister for the South Island and Associate Minister for Transport, James Meager, told RNZhe had spoken with Andrew Crawford recently to reassure him the issue was a high priority. But Crawford said they had reached out to the government numerous times to no avail, and passing the buck on to customers to cover costs was not an option. The airline's fares had gone up by more than 20 percent since Covid - they could go up another 20 percent and it would still not be enough to cover its costs, he said. Marlborough Mayor Nadine Taylor said the council had raised the issue with government, and was told market forces would take care of it. It was gutting for the region as the Blenheim-Christchurch route was a critical part of the region's economic recovery, she said. "I am frustrated that Sounds Air was unsuccessful in securing support from central government as regional connectivity is also important for economic growth, particularly tourism," she said. "There is often talk of the regions being our country's powerhouses - to be that we need infrastructure, services, and connectivity." Christchurch Hospital provided a lot of primary care for cancer patients, and Taylor had already been contacted by some of the patients who regularly used the service. "They're just sort of saying 'it's just such a devastating loss for them'. They're back to four or five hours on the road. They need family to transport them and take them rather than just dropping them at the airport," she said. Wānaka local and Queenstown Lakes Deputy Mayor Quentin Smith was disappointed the service was being cut. So instead of being able to take a short flight that was less than an hour, it meant an hours-long drive. "The alternative of either driving, which is about five-and-a-half hours each way or going to Queenstown, where you've got to drive over an hour each way plus you've got to be there a lot earlier for your flights than you do for Sounds Air," he said. His daughter used the service a few weeks ago, and he said it was well used by travellers for business, holidays and appointments. It also presented a problem for healthcare, especially for people coming from Wānaka or Blenheim who need to travel to Christchurch Hospital for treatment. "Healthcare, I think, is a big one because people will fly up to Christchurch and back for a specialist appointment ... we know that access to healthcare out of Wānaka is particularly challenging so that's an issue that concerns me," Smith said. Smith remembered when Air New Zealand used to fly the same route before the service was cut more than a decade ago. "There's been a bit of a history of the offering and loss of this type of service. We've just got to find something that's sustainable that matches the needs. It was disappointing that a service that is really well-patronised isn't successful and there's obviously other reasons for that," he said. Christchurch Airport chief executive Justin Watson was sad to see the flights go. "A number of the regional airlines have been facing big challenges so ultimately it wasn't a complete surprise. We were hoping that they could work through those challenges and that they could find a way to continue to operate. But unfortunately they haven't been able to do that," he said. Both services carried about 10,000 passengers a year. Watson would like to see a collective approach to ensure the wings of important regional services were not clipped. "There's a reality there that says every region can't be connected or it's going to cost so much that people just won't fly on it because it's too expensive," he said. "In some countries, there is support through the likes of government for ensuring connectivity remains." South Island Minister James Meager said the government had already taken action in a variety of ways - including providing investment in regional airport infrastructure, commencing the release of regional on-time flight performance data - and would soon release an aviation action plan. He understood the conditions were tough in the aviation industry and airlines were under pressure - and that the government was actively considering several options to address regional connectivity concerns and improve competition in the sector. Destination Marlborough general manager Tracey Green said Christchurch was a key visitor market for Marlborough. "Recent challenges with Air New Zealand and ferry services have compromised our connectivity and losing Christchurch as a direct link is a significant blow," she said. "The full impact of this loss in connectivity may not be immediately clear, but it's a real shame this is happening just ahead of the summer season, when we rely on those connections the most," Green said. With a renewed focus on the Cook Strait services, Andrew Crawford said he was confident about the future of the business. "We are not alone in this, Air New Zealand and other regional carriers in New Zealand, and world-wide, have been hit by the same cost increases, and the irony is that our passenger demand has never been stronger," he said. "However, aviation is a very price sensitive market and demand would dry up if we tried to pass all of the cost increases to our customers."
Otago Daily Times
33 minutes ago
- Otago Daily Times
Loss of flights will impact Christchurch Hospital patients
By Tess Brunton of RNZ The loss of two popular regional flights is a blow to tourism and people needing treatment at Christchurch Hospital. Sounds Air will stop its flights from Blenheim to Christchurch and Christchurch to Wānaka from the end of September due to what has been described as 'out of control' costs. Airline cuts back Chch routes Sounds Air managing director Andrew Crawford said the airline was flying more passengers than ever but could not keep up with the costs that have remained high since the pandemic, engineer shortages and the weak New Zealand dollar. Sounds Air said it was going back to basics, canning the two routes, selling five smaller aircraft, and expanding its Cessna Caravan fleet for Cook Strait services. Ten staff will lose their jobs. That was after cancelling its services from Wellington to Taupō and Wellington to Westport last December and selling an aircraft. The Minister for the South Island and Associate Minister for Transport, James Meager, told Checkpoint he had spoken with Andrew Crawford recently to reassure him the issue was a high priority. But Crawford said they had reached out to the government numerous times to no avail, and passing the buck on to customers to cover costs was not an option. The airline's fares had gone up by more than 20 percent since Covid - they could go up another 20 percent and it would still not be enough to cover its costs, he said. Marlborough Mayor Nadine Taylor said the council had raised the issue with government, and was told market forces would take care of it. It was gutting for the region as the Blenheim-Christchurch route was a critical part of the region's economic recovery, she said. "I am frustrated that Sounds Air was unsuccessful in securing support from central government as regional connectivity is also important for economic growth, particularly tourism," she said. "There is often talk of the regions being our country's powerhouses - to be that we need infrastructure, services, and connectivity." Christchurch Hospital provided a lot of primary care for cancer patients, and Taylor had already been contacted by some of the patients who regularly used the service. "They're just sort of saying 'it's just such a devastating loss for them'. They're back to four or five hours on the road. They need family to transport them and take them rather than just dropping them at the airport," she said. Wānaka local and Queenstown Lakes Deputy Mayor Quentin Smith was disappointed the service was being cut. So instead of being able to take a short flight that was less than an hour, it meant an hours-long drive. "The alternative of either driving, which is about five-and-a-half hours each way or going to Queenstown, where you've got to drive over an hour each way plus you've got to be there a lot earlier for your flights than you do for Sounds Air," he said. His daughter used the service a few weeks ago, and he said it was well used by travellers for business, holidays and appointments. It also presented a problem for healthcare, especially for people coming from Wānaka or Blenheim who need to travel to Christchurch Hospital for treatment. "Healthcare, I think, is a big one because people will fly up to Christchurch and back for a specialist appointment ... we know that access to healthcare out of Wānaka is particularly challenging so that's an issue that concerns me," Smith said. Smith remembered when Air New Zealand used to fly the same route before the service was cut more than a decade ago. "There's been a bit of a history of the offering and loss of this type of service. We've just got to find something that's sustainable that matches the needs. It was disappointing that a service that is really well-patronised isn't successful and there's obviously other reasons for that," he said. Christchurch Airport chief executive Justin Watson was sad to see the flights go. "A number of the regional airlines have been facing big challenges so ultimately it wasn't a complete surprise. We were hoping that they could work through those challenges and that they could find a way to continue to operate. But unfortunately they haven't been able to do that," he said. Both services carried about 10,000 passengers a year. Watson would like to see a collective approach to ensure the wings of important regional services were not clipped. "There's a reality there that says every region can't be connected or it's going to cost so much that people just won't fly on it because it's too expensive," he said. "In some countries, there is support through the likes of government for ensuring connectivity remains." South Island Minister James Meager said the government had already taken action in a variety of ways - including providing investment in regional airport infrastructure, commencing the release of regional on-time flight performance data - and would soon release an aviation action plan. He understood the conditions were tough in the aviation industry and airlines were under pressure - and that the government was actively considering several options to address regional connectivity concerns and improve competition in the sector. Destination Marlborough general manager Tracey Green said Christchurch was a key visitor market for Marlborough. "Recent challenges with Air New Zealand and ferry services have compromised our connectivity and losing Christchurch as a direct link is a significant blow," she said. "The full impact of this loss in connectivity may not be immediately clear, but it's a real shame this is happening just ahead of the summer season, when we rely on those connections the most," Green said. With a renewed focus on the Cook Strait services, Andrew Crawford said he was confident about the future of the business. "We are not alone in this, Air New Zealand and other regional carriers in New Zealand, and world-wide, have been hit by the same cost increases, and the irony is that our passenger demand has never been stronger," he said. "However, aviation is a very price sensitive market and demand would dry up if we tried to pass all of the cost increases to our customers."
NZ Herald
4 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Hardship forces Kiwis to withdraw $470 million from KiwiSaver in 12 months
'That trend really started a couple of years ago, so we've been seeing that since early 2023. And that really coincides with that period of economic hardship. 'Initially it was about cost of living, when inflation rose very sharply… then of course the recession - when we've seen quite a big set of job losses and that wider hardship. '[Hardships] used to be under about 2000 a month and we've been closer to 4500 a month in the last little while, so [that] gives you a sense of just how much hardship there is.' Eaqub said redundancies were the biggest driver of hardship in the past year. 'There's a bunch of reasons, but really it's about that big increase in job losses over the course of the last couple of years. 'While the overall rate of inflation has slowed, the cost of living is still really high. So, what we've seen is the rate of growth… costs are not increasing as fast as before but they're still very expensive. Particularly for things like food. 'Food prices are up around 4.5% [in the last year], people's incomes are not rising that fast.' Eaqub called it a 'double whammy'. 'When the economic conditions are weak, it tends to affect people in more than one way. 'It's around 0.3% of all KiwiSaver members. So, it's gone up a lot since the pre-Covid years when it was 0.2%. 'It's a small number of people who are experiencing a lot of hardship.' He said the average amount withdrawn is about $9000. '[People] are taking out what they can to cover their outstanding debts and making sure they've got money left over,' Eaqub said. Eaqub said this can have implications on retirement savings later in life. 'I guess it's choosing between financial hardship today versus financial hardship potentially later. And that's the trade-off that you have to make. 'If you're in hardship today, then it is no good saying that in 20 or 30 years time I'm going to have a better retirement if you're living in poverty today. 'Quite often we're talking about people who have relatively small balances.' Those contributing to KiwiSaver were also better insulated for when hardship hits. 'Quite often the people who don't [contribute] are on low incomes. And for them they are missing out on the employee contributions, the Government contribution. 'Those people who have been contributing to KiwiSaver are better off in the sense that, at least they have these pre-cautionary savings and they've saved a lot more income they might have otherwise had. 'So, they may not have more money in retirement but they will at least have more money in hardship today.' Cameron Smith is an Auckland-based business reporter. He joined the Herald in 2015 and has covered business and sports. He reports on topics such as retail, small business, the workplace and macroeconomics.
