BC Ferries released its operating results for the past three and six month of this year on Nov. 25 and stated traffic was up compared to the same periods in 2021.
For the three months ending Sept. 30, the release said that corporation carried 3 million vehicles in both 2022 and 2021. The number of passengers carried increased to 7.5 million in 2022, compared to 7 million passengers in the previous year, a seven per cent increase.
Year-to-date in 2022, the company stated it carried 12.9 million passengers and 5.4 million vehicles, an increase of 28 per cent and 15 per cent respectively compared to the same period last year. It was noted that in 2021, travel restrictions were in place through the early portion of that year.
Route 3 traffic
The customer counts on Route 3 between July and September 2022 showed an increase of about three and a half per cent in passengers carried between Langdale and Horseshoe Bay in 2022 over 2021 levels. This year’s passenger count for that period was 868,626 compared to 839,515 in the previous year. In 2022, the number of vehicles that sailed between during that period from both Route 3 terminals declined to 363,082 from a count of 367,025 in the same timeframe in 2021.
Cancellations and on-time performance
According to BCF’s Management’s Discussion & Analysis of Financial Condition and Financial Performance document posted with the updated operations results, “In the three and six months ended Sept. 30, 2022, we cancelled less than 1 per cent of our scheduled round trips. While cancelling trips in response to weather conditions or vessel mechanical issues is not unusual, in the three and six months ended Sept. 30, we experienced a higher number of trips cancelled due to our inability to secure required crew. Like many other industries, we are facing a shortage of skilled workers, an aging workforce and higher levels of illness.”
That document also noted “Year-to-date, overall on-time performance decreased 1.8 per cent from 82.8 per cent to 81.0 per cent compared to the same period in the prior year, declining on the Major Routes [this includes Route 3], the Northern Routes and the Minor Routes. On-time performance decreased primarily as a result of the impact of increased traffic demand and being unsuccessful in securing the required crew on some sailings.”
Financial performance
The release noted that BCF's net earnings for the three months ending Sept. 30, were $80.4 million, consistent with the same quarter the previous year. Revenue for that period was $343.1 million, up $26.3 million over the same period in the prior year primarily as a result of higher passenger traffic volumes, net retail sales, ferry transportation fees and fuel surcharges.
Since April 1, 2022, net earnings were $88.3 million compared to net earnings of $84.6 million in the prior year. Revenue was $608 million, up $62 million over the same period in the prior year.
