Fuel cost hits rescue helicopter training

Rotorua's rescue helicopter service has been forced to reduce training as it grapples with the rising cost of fuel.

As petrol prices hit a national all-time high, the sting at the pump is being felt by more than just domestic motorists.

The BayTrust Rescue Helicopter says that with more money being spent on fuel, less money is going into training for pilots and crew - though duty manager Art Kowalski insists safety is not being compromised.

"They're still up to a decent level of flying of course. But maybe they're not quite as proficient as they could be."

David Wickham, the secretary of Philips Search & Rescue Trust which looks after rescue helicopters in Rotorua, Hamilton, Tauranga, Palmerston North and Taupo, said an average single engine aircraft used 190 litres of aviation fuel per hour (p/h) and a twin-engine 320p/h.

With the cost of aviation fuel at $1.80 per litre, that equated to $342p/h and $576p/h respectively.

Most of the trust's helicopters were twin engine machines.

When the cost of aviation fuel rose 10 cents it cost $32p/h more to keep them airborne.

Motorists are buckling as petrol soars to its highest price ever, with most city outlets selling 91-octane fuel for 222.9c a litre.

National fire service chief financial officer Brett Warwick said cost increases in a tight budgetary environment had to be managed carefully. "Fuel is critical to New Zealand Fire Service operations but makes up less than 1 per cent of its total operating budget.

"The increase in fuel costs will be managed within the overall budget, without affecting operations."

The rising cost has made most petrol 1c a litre more expensive than the previous high watermark in May last year.

However, industry minnow Gull Petroleum is offering prices 8c-13c below those of the big four: BP, Mobil, Chevron and Z.

It has left economists, including UBS New Zealand's Robin Clements fretting about the effect on household spending through the fragile financial recovery.

"Petrol is such a pervasive product - it is like a tax - it will crowd out other spending," he said.

Oil companies are blaming the increase on greater economic confidence overseas - in the United States and Europe - as well as perennial tensions in the Middle East.

Automobile Association spokesman Mark Stockdale said after a succession of cuts in May and June, petrol had risen by 26c a litre in the past six weeks because of rising international commodity prices, fuel tax and oil company profit margins.