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Simon Calder
@SimonCalder
Travel news/advice shared here, on TikTok and answering your questions at weekends with my 5.30pm BST Instagram Live: instagram.com/simon_calder/
Simon Calder’s Tweets
When in Rome ... record a travel podcast.
Reporting on a relatively stress-free journey (including flying on an Iberia jet from Heathrow, brought in by British Airways to cover gaps in the schedule).
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Heathrow airport lost £321m in the first six months of 2022, which is £12 per passenger.
CEO says ground handler resources are still 30% down.
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easyJet's thousands of flight cancellations, many at its main base, London Gatwick, cost the airline £133m.
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The prime ministerial candidates agree on one thing: queues at the EU external frontier that the UK wanted in Kent are nothing to do with Brexit.
Travel chaos at Dover and Folkestone is all the fault of the French says former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt.
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Today’s travel podcast. How will Etias and EES affect your journeys to Europe from next year?
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Ryanair results for April, May, June.
Europe’s biggest budget airline turned a modest profit (£3+ per passenger).
The airline's commentary reveals flights in July, August and September are selling at more than 10% above those in the pre-Covid summer 2019.
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Over from Dover – and Folkestone.
Flowing freely this morning, but what went wrong this weekend?
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Dover/Folkestone.
Nov 2020: National Audit Office warns motorists to France face waits of up to 2 hours after the Brexit transition.
“With an increase in the number of passengers travelling in the summer months, queues and delays could become much longer�?
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Sailing over from Dover? Today is the busiest day for crossings to France since 2019.
Queues to reach the port and once inside 1-2 hours to get through French passport control.
One motorist tells me: “We have to put up with it. That’s what the British do.�?
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Today's travel podcast: Over from Dover? Good luck.
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Taking back control: how Brexit made Dover gridlock inevitable.
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Could passports win a new lease of life?
MPs on the Home Affairs Select Committee ask HM Passport Office to consider if travellers with imminent journeys – jeopardised because their passport is about to expire – could get an extra six months.
But not yet
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Port of Dover has launched an unprecedented attack on the French Police aux Frontieres for understaffing border controls.
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Great getaway begins. Most holidaymakers can expect smooth journeys, but problems already at Dover and Gatwick.
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Could your soon-to-expire passport win a new lease of life? Imagine turning up to have your travel document extended by an extra six months.
MPs have asked the Home Office to investigate if that's possible.
The idea is explored in the latest ravel podcast.
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Travelling via Amsterdam airport on KLM within Europe?
Today it's hand luggage only.
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Great getaway: soaring fares for last-minute one-way flights,
BA Gatwick-Faro £705 and Heathrow-Berlin £918.
Many departures totally sold out.
Ryanair: no seats from Stansted to Athens for a week. easyJet's next 35 flights from Gatwick to Malaga all full.
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Railway roulette: tonight's travel podcast, from a fractious London Euston.
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Passports: 55,000 applications in the system have been there for more than 10 weeks.
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Rail: is your journey even possible?
East Coast main line, West Coast main line and East Midlands Railway all hard hit by heatwave related damage.
Passengers who boarded last night's Caledonian Sleeper at London Euston woke up this morning at London Euston
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Dependable.
No, not me: what travellers need a railway to be.
Today's travel podcast, from refreshing Paddington Basin to resilient Paddington Station.
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Trains in heatwave disarray – yet my nationwide snapshot suggests there are more running than you might think.
Glad to hear about your rail journeys today, successful or not.
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Travel questions? I will be tackling as many as I can in the next hour, to 5pm. Pop yours in the Comments box at the end of this article🔽
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The government's Aviation Passenger Charter, announced in 2018, has just been published.
Not everyone is impressed with its contents.
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The highest concentration of train operators in the UK is at the adjacent stations of King's Cross and St Pancras in London.
Both are busy, suggesting passengers believe their journeys are, indeed, ‘absolutely necessary’.
Today's travel podcast from there.
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Rail system in meltdown. You may want to follow our live blog as passengers are warned against travel.
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Summer in the UK city – but which one?
If you demand a recount, choose option 3 and then write in your recommendation, along with your reasons.
(For the avoidance of doubt, Crawley is not yet a city.)
- Bristol20.6%
- Edinburgh46%
- Neither of the above33.3%
1,705 votesFinal results
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Which UK city is most alluring for summer travellers?
Latest podcast whittles down the choice to just two candidates (no TV debates involved).
Now you, the excellent self-selecting electorate can choose the winner. See the poll in this thread.
Bristol
Edinburgh
or your nomination
Quote Tweet
Summer in the city! But where to go to enjoy the UK's best urban break? Join @SimonCalder and Mick Webb at anchor.fm/youshouldhaveb for discussion of what makes a top city, and help decide the winner
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Rail update: hundreds of trains cancelled today as speed restrictions begin.
"Travel only if your journey is absolutely necessary," say the train operators in England and Wales.
East Coast main line closed from London to York and Leeds noon-8pm on Tuesday.
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Trains on Mon/Tue severely disrupted due to speed restrictions that increase journey times and congestion.
Train operators have been asked to reduce services.
Advance ticket for Mon/Tue? Use it on Wed/Thur. Some firms (eg Grand Central) allowing today too.
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Planning on a cultural visit on Monday or Tuesday? Check whether it’s actually open. Rail service is also heavily disrupted due to heat wave.
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Summer 2022: what the airlines promise, and what they sometimes deliver.
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Is your Monday/Tuesday rail journey really necessary?
On the East Coast main line, the train operators are urging travellers to postpone their journeys.
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Rail travel on Monday and Tuesday will be disrupted due to extreme heat.
Anglo-Scottish train operator warns "only travel if absolutely necessary".
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Next edition is all about UK cities. Tell us your favourite:
Beach city: Aberdeen, Brighton ...
Cathedral city: Ely, Wells, St David's ...
Capital city: Belfast v Cardiff v Edinburgh v London.
Cultural hub: Bath? York? Glasgow?
Your selections, please.
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As a summer of disarray continues – with flight cancellations, Covid concerns and Brexit effects – the latest edition of the podcast is all about how to prepare for travel problems.
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Bend it like Beckenham: to avoid buckled rails, expect blanket speed restrictions for trains in the next few days – with extended journey times.
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Rail strikes: summer passengers caught in increasingly fractious dispute that is eroding trust in trains – just as the railway industry needs to provide a reliable alternative to road and air.
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