Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast

Warnings of flight cancellations, a cruise with a killer virus on board, the EU entry-exit system ... Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of the Advantage Travel Partnership, tells me of her frustration about warnings on summer travel that look wide of the mark. But she also says this is the industry of human happiness.

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Travel Desk Tuesday, and I am talking to Senior Travel Writer Natalie Wilson about two fresh concepts in the longhaul aviation world: Emirates' plan for en suite bathrooms in First Class, with Air New Zealand offering bunk beds in Economy. Do we need either?

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It is an extremely busy weekend on the travel front, and I am rounding up the headline. There are alarming reports of a small expedition ship off the coast of Cape Verde with cases of hantavirus. Worried airline passengers are contacting me about flight cancellations this summer: my message is, don't panic. The EU entry-exit system is unravelling across Europe, so be prepared for anything.

Finally, Venezuela is now connected with the US for the first time by an American carrier for seven years, with American Airlines going in from Miami to Caracas.

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Nine weeks ago, before the US-Israeli attack on Iran and subsequent reprisals, the intercontinental travel world looked very different. I’ve been talking to Laura Lindsay of Skyscanner – the platform where you can search for flights, hotels, car hire and package holidays.

“People do still want to get away,” she says. But their destination choices are changing, with western Europe and Morocco benefiting from a drop in demand for Dubai.

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We have just launched our biggest ever network from the UK" – so says Yvonne Moynihan, Managing Director of Wizz Air UK. "Airlines are well used to crises– we're resilient and well adapted". She says: "We have fuel supply. We have other mechanisms for uplifting fuel. We're not seeing an Armageddon situation.

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.