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Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast
March 26th - Diversionary tactics: should the UK do more when planes can't land where they are supposed to?
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“Passengers don’t deserve to end up on random Atlantic islands,” says Matt Purton – group aviation services director at Air Charter Service – after last Friday's closure of Heathrow. He says we must have a national conversation about how to cope better next time.
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April 22nd - Earth Day: How are travellers' attitudes changing?
05:47|That is the question on Travel Desk Tuesday for my colleague, Natalie Wilson. So many factors are at work when deciding where to go and what to do on holiday – does care for the planet figure strongly?This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.April 21st - On their way to an airport near you: aircraft with folding wings
06:18|A special Easter Monday edition. I've been talking to Sue Partridge, head of the Wing of Tomorrow programme at Airbus, about how folding wings on short-haul aircraft will reduce the damage caused by aviation.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.April 18th - Passport Waiting Time – a valuable online resource
06:35|I'm talking to Andy Anderson, founder of Passport Waiting Time – which does what it says and helps travellers with their expectations of how long it will take to get that all-important document. So how does HM Passport Office rate?This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.April 17th - Careful with that tech when you are on your airport journey
08:35|Many travellers have welcomed speculation that facial recognition combined with digital passports could allow smoother journeys through the airport. But as I have been hearing from tech writer and broadcaster, Kate Bevan, the concept raises serious concerns – from digital exclusion to privacy.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.April 16th - We're going to Barbados
06:58|Sandra Greig, senior cabin crew for Aer Lingus, says Barbados is her favourite destination anywhere in the world. Sandra kindly took a call from me while on the island, to which she had flown from Manchester on one of the three weekly flights the airline offers.Sounds like I should get back there soon ...This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.April 15th - Malta: gem of the southern Mediterranean?
06:02|It's travel desk Tuesday, which means I am talking to one of my excellent colleagues. Today it's Natalie Wilson, just returned from the fine island of Malta.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.April 14th - Driving in the UK at Easter? Prepare for congestion on key holiday routes
08:16|Rod Dennis of the RAC is telling me how to avoid getting caught in the worst of the traffic over Easter, which is projected to peak on the M25 anticlockwise from the Gatwick turn-off (M23) to the M40 to Oxford and Birmingham at 11.45am on Good Friday.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.April 11th - Birmingham airport – only 32 minutes from Old Oak Common
06:50|That's the long-term prospect for the West Midlands airport, which aims to compete with the London airports. In the very short term, Birmingham is expecting its busiest Easter ever. I'm talking to the airport's chief executive, Nick Barton, who says the restoration of flights to New York can't come soon enough.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.April 10th - Step on the train in London, step off in Milan, Geneva or Bordeaux
08:49|That's the hope of London St Pancras Highspeed, the company that runs the UK's only functioning international rail station – as well as the High Speed 1 rail link to the Channel Tunnel near Folkestone in Kent.Chief executive Robert Sinclair has been telling me about the prospects for trebling the number of international passengers between the UK and Continental Europe, adding new destinations and cutting fares.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.