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An Air Canada Jazz regional jet at the gate (illustrative) — Photo: Cliff, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Cost of Living|Canada, United States

Competition Bureau: letting Air Canada and United coordinate on 10 more Canada–U.S. routes would cost travellers millions a year

In a report to the Transport Minister, released 28 October, the Competition Bureau says the airlines’ proposed expanded joint venture would let them coordinate fares on 10 routes where a 2012 consent agreement now bars it. The two airlines carry all non-stop traffic on five of those routes. The Bureau predicts materially higher prices on eight of the 10. Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon makes the final call, and public comments close 15 November.

Daily Teabag Desk·Centre
Customs and agriculture officers open an imported parcel at an international mail facility (illustrative; a U.S. facility, not an EU one) — Photo: USDA, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Cost of Living|European Union

From 1 November, every item in an online parcel from outside the EU carries a €2 ‘handling fee’ on top of the €3 duty

Starting tomorrow, the EU charges a non-refundable €2 Union handling fee on each distinct item in e-commerce parcels sent to consumers from outside the EU, whatever the value. The seller or carrier pays it and can pass it on. Ireland’s Revenue gives an example: a €10 parcel holding a pen, a notebook and a key ring now carries €15 in charges, plus VAT.

Daily Teabag Desk·Centre