Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast

On 25 July 2000, all 109 passengers and crew aboard an Air France Concorde departing for New York JFK died when the supersonic plane crashed shortly after take-off from Paris CDG. Four people on the ground were also killed. Concorde was grounded shortly afterwards and, despite a short resurgence with British Airways, made her final passenger flight in October 2003. Leading aviation figure Jonathan Hinkles has been telling me more – and explaining why supersonic travel may never return.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I've been talking to Thomas Woldbye, chief executive of London Heathrow – the busiest airport in Europe. He explains why there won't be another runway until at least 2035 ... who will pay for the multibillion-pound project ... and what he plans for passengers in the meantime.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With figures from aviation analyst Cirium, this coming Friday, 25 July, will see 3,255 flights out of the UK with 585,189 seats on board. Paul Charles, chief executive of PC Agency – and former Virgin Atlantic communications director – has advice for the days ahead, and advises visiting Puglia and Provence.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's Travel Desk Tuesday, and joining me today is The Independent's US Travel Editor, Ted Thornhill. He's been to the US and back in business class on United – by most measures, the biggest airline in the world. Besides the experience itself, he was in New York to learn about what is in store with the launch of Polaris Studio suites.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm at the UK's busiest port, watching ferries zipping back and forth across the Channel while I talk to Doug Bannister, chief executive of the Port of Dover. He has useful advice for a smooth journey to Calais or Dunkirk this summer.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So says the president of the AA, Edmund King. He's urging motorists to plan their journeys with care in order to save on petrol or diesel.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some of the UK’s top airports now charge a fee of £7 for dropping off passengers at the airport. Only one, London City, has no charge. In contrast, almost every airport abroad allows drivers to stop outside the terminal for free. Rod Dennis of the RAC says this is another example of “rip-off Britain”.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Europe’s biggest budget airline cancelled hundreds of flights earlier this month due to a strike by French air-traffic controllers. Most of those were so-called "overflights" that weren't landing or taking off in France. As Ryanair's communications director, Jade Kirwan, has been telling me, the airline is demanding that flights using a country's airspace simply to reach the final destination should be protected in the event of a strike. Also, what about increasing the free cabin baggage limit?This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's Travel Desk Tuesday, in which one of my excellent colleagues fills us in on what's happening around the world – and, in this case, around the UK. Amelia Neath has done so much work on tourism taxes she's now our correspondent on the subject.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yvonne Moynihan has taken over running the British offshoot of one of Europe’s top three budget airlines (the other two being easyJet and Ryanair, where Ms Moynihan used to work). We talked about the move into Saudi Arabia, punctuality and service.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.