Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast

Play is the latest Icelandic airline to join the fray between the UK and Keflavik International Airport near Reykjavik – with onward connections to five North American destinations. I've been talking to the chief executive and largest shareholder, Einar Örn Ólafsson – and heard about starting an airline during Covid and the unusual appeal of Iceland in winter to Brits (with everyone else it's summer).This podcast is free, like the Independent Travel newsletter. Get it delivered every Friday to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the past 24 hours I have been to three different airports – Paris Orly, London City and Dublin. Here's what you need to know about the different security procedures at each for your own travels.This podcast is free, like the Independent Travel newsletter. Get it delivered every Friday to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

France attracts more international visitors than any other country, and in summer its capital is usually rammed – particularly with big tour groups from Asia and North America. But this year they are staying away from Paris during the Olympics.In today's pocast, Simon Calder gives you the lowdown on his budget weekend in France's capital, and why you too should visit before the end of the Games.This podcast is free, like the Independent Travel newsletter. Get it delivered every Friday to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As planned, I am at London St Pancras International station, the UK hub for Eurostar trains to Paris. I had intended to report on the great getaway to the Olympics, but sadly once again I am reporting on travel chaos – after sabotage on the high-speed line between Lille and Paris closed the main route.Trains are heavily delayed and cancelled – though most get through eventually.This podcast is free, like the Independent Travel newsletter. Get it delivered every Friday to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I’m celebrating the Olympics – no, not Paris 2024 but Chamonix 1924, the first Winter Games. Skiing has had an intriguing history, as I’ve been discovering in the company of Nic Oatridge of the Ski Club of Great Britain. Our location: the club’s archive at De Montfort University in Leicester.This podcast is free, like the Independent Travel newsletter. Get it delivered every Friday to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lots of aviation news this week, so a good moment to catch up with Paul Charles, chief executive of The PC Agency and former communications director for Virgin Atlantic.Sign up here for our Travel newsletter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm in wonderful Walthamstow, northeast London, in the company of one of the UK's foremost thinkers on transport: Thomas Ableman, founder of innovative bus start up Snap, recent director of strategy at Transport for London and now a leading consultant.Sign up here for our Travel newsletter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After the calamitous busiest weekend of the year so far for UK airline passengers, these are your rights if it all went wrong.Sign up here for our Travel newsletter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Independent’s travel correspondent Simon Calder has explained what your rights are if your flight has been cancelled or delayed by the global IT outage.A botched software update brought down systems worldwide on Friday (19 July), resulting in a massive disruption to flights across the country.I explain your rights as a passenger caught up in the resultant mayhem.Sign up here for our Travel newsletter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the summer rush gets fully under way, I'm at London Gatwick talking to Nick Williams, head of passenger operations at the world's busiest single-runway airport. On a really busy day, there are more than 900 take-offs and landings: around 50 in a typical hour, or one every 72 seconds. The wait for security, says Nick, is rarely more than five minutes.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.