Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast

Right at the end of 2025, tens of thousands of passengers had their New Year plans wrecked when a problem in the Channel Tunnel. 30 trains linking London St Pancras International with Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam. Paul Charles, chief executive of the PC Agency, used to be director of communications for Eurostar – and gives me his no-holds-barred view of how events unfolded.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.

To start 2026, I'm talking to Mark Tanzer, well respected chief executive of Abta, the travel association – about reasons to be cheerful, challenges from the EU entry-exit system and the environmental impact of tourism. As well as: What's the point of Abta?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 to Mike Vincent, General Manager of the Langdale Chase Hotel overlooking Windermere in Cumbria – who has been working through the festive season along with his staff. "We're nice people looking after nice people," he says.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 Chris Woodroffe, managing director of Manchester airport, about plans for the future in terms of passenger numbers – and also public transport connectivity to MAN. With a brief mention of the thorny subject of drop-off charges.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.

Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy the PC Agency, is back to talk about travel in 2026.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.