Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast

Yesterday I was at Southend airport for the opening of a new easyJet base. Today the target is Luton airport where Jet2 has opened a new base – at the home of easyJet. Steve Heapy, chief executive of Jet2.com and Jet2 Holidays, says the customer will be the winner.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.

Ryanair has just announced it has carried 200 million passengers over the course of a year. A good moment, then, to catch up with Michael O’Leary, who has been chief executive for the past 31 years. We talked about his quest for “intergalactic domination”, fares and delays this summer, cabin bag size and the new Ryanair Prime subscription offer.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.

US immigration is going to be looking more closely at everybody coming through the border. How this translates into travel and decision making, we don't know yet, but you cannot ignore these very high-profile cases and ask yourself what is the effect going to be?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.

"Ryanair Prime" costs £79 a year, and its benefits are – to be polite – modest. Rob Burgess, founder of the excellent Head for Points frequent-flyer website gave me his expert assessment as we walked together in Toulouse, southwest France.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.

“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.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 talking today to Vanessa Hudson, chief executive of Qantas, about Project Sunrise – connecting London and Sydney nonstop.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 spent the weekend covering the airport shutdown. Around a quarter-million passengers who were due to fly to, from or via Heathrow on Friday and over the weekend saw their travel plans wrecked when the airport closed for nearly 24 hours.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.

Today the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions has released its figures for 2024 – showing a "slow but steady" increase in visitor numbers. But the backdrop is tough times for attraction providers, exacerbated by successive governments putting up the barriers to foreign visitors.I'll been catching up with ALVA director – and top tourism thinker – Bernard Donoghue.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 Sean Collins, chief executive of Uber Boat by Thames Clippers, about his shiny new ferry – and how it will transform travel across the river downstream of Tower Bridge in London.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.

Today, the German capital is a busy, fun and coherent city. But I first knew Berlin when the Wall carved through its streets, dividing families. Some of those oppressed in East Berlin were allowed to leave – along with curious tourists like me.The main way out was at Friedrichstrasse station, where the Tränenpalast – or Palace of Tears – is now the most powerful reminder of division.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.