Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Villains are stalking social media in search of passengers frustrated at the lack of contact from their airlines.I've been hearing from Karen Welsh, who told me: "Potentially being scammed out of a fortune is upsetting and worrying, but more than anything, if I could get there then goodness knows who else could get there as well."This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.

It's Travel Desk Tuesday, and I'm talking to travel writer for The Independent Amelia Neath about a survey that rates the most beautiful approaches to airports around the world – including three that are reasonably accessible for British travellers.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.