What could be worse than last August for travellers? Oh yes...

Simon Calder’s Travel Week [The Independent]( August 19, 2022 [View in browser](   [The Independent]( [The Independent]( Last August, travel was all about Grant Shapps. Through the summer peak, the transport secretary kept us guessing about changes to the so-called “traffic light” system. Mind the cap: Heathrow airport is limiting departing passengers to 100,000 per day until late October Nations were shuffled between a tangle of Covid categories that ranged all the way from red via amber plus, amber, green watchlist and green to “super green” (sole member: Ireland). Sudden “red list” announcements heralding imminent hotel quarantine made [British holidaymakers abandon the beach and race back from a series of nations]( from Mexico to Montenegro. No one has ever adequately explained the sorcery that underpinned the decisions. But peak idiocy was reached on 30 August when the government deemed that [a planeload of easyJet passengers from Montenegro]( posed no threat to the health of the nation because the wheels of their easyJet aircraft touched down on the runway at Gatwick at 3.58 am, rather than two minutes later. At 4am the Balkan nation joined the red list, whereupon the lot of them would have had to pay around £2,000 each to isolate for 11 nights in an airport hotel. One summer later, and the disarray is yet more intense. If you have lost track of where we are in terms of rail strikes: this morning, for at least another hour, trains across Great Britain will be disrupted because of [yesterday’s national rail stoppage](. Another will take place tomorrow, with cancellations continuing into Sunday. To bridge the gap, today the [London Underground is almost entirely closed]( due to separate industrial action. And even when this weekend’s walk-outs end, anyone using the West Coast main line from Manchester or Birmingham to London will struggle to find room on board a train: [the usual every-20-minutes schedule is down to just one service an hour]( from those key cities on Avanti West Coast. Hoping to fly in or out of Heathrow? [You face another 10 weeks of diminished options and increased fares](, after the UK’s largest airport announced its cap on departing passenger numbers will continue until the end of October. Every day I receive [yet more examples of airlines failing to treat passengers fairly]( after disrupting their journeys – presumably because they believe they can do so with impunity. And even at 6.15am this Friday morning, the Port of Dover has put out a warning of a “wait of 60 minutes to go through French Border Control” [at the recently established hard EU frontier in Kent](. As the fortunes of travellers dwindle, we need urgent action from the minister in charge. [Mr Shapps, though, is prioritising registering and licensing cyclists](. As recently as 2018, a thorough study about such a bike scheme concluded: “The costs and complexity of introducing such a system would significantly outweigh the benefits.” The transport secretary might want to pay heed to the report, because it was conducted by his very own Department for Transport. [As my political colleague Jon Stone notes](: “Grant Shapps, with both eyes on his own political future, is throwing a little bit of anti-cycling meat out for the Tory press before the new prime minister comes in. It is a pitch to keep his job, essentially.” As you wait vainly for your train, boat or plane, I am sure you will agree that is the most crucial issue right now.   [Get inspired...]( [All at sea]( The world’s most spectacular ferry crossings [I'm an image]( [Family fun]( Welcome to Billund, birthplace of Lego and king of the kid-friendly city break [I'm an image]( Hotel of the week]( Indulge in a two-night stay at Wivenhoe House in Colchester, including a five-course dinner for two Tip of the week: Busiest days for returning holidaymakers By this point in August, returning passengers are outnumbering outbound travellers at UK airports. At London Gatwick, the busiest days for arrivals comprise today, next Friday (26 August) and Sunday 4 September. At London Heathrow, the last few days in August and 1-5 September are expected to see the most inbound travellers. At both London Stansted and Luton, the peak arrivals day is set to be the bank holiday, Monday 29 August. At London City airport, the highest number of passengers are expected on the next two Thursdays: 25 August and 5 September. At Birmingham, the busiest day of the week for arrivals and departures is Friday, with today and 26 August plus 2 September each above 40,000 passengers in total. And at Northern Ireland’s biggest airport, Belfast International, Friday 26 August will be the busiest day. [Your rights if your holiday flight is disrupted]( PICK OF THE WEEK: VISIT SAUDI Create a fully customized day-by-day itinerary and discover the hidden gems of Saudi. Plan your trip [here]( Deal of the week: Ski flights from Manchester in style This winter the Swiss and French Alps are accessible from northwest England in long-haul style. On 1 November, Ethiopian Airlines starts flying from Manchester to Addis Ababa – via Geneva. The carrier, widely regarded as the best in Africa, is selling tickets for the 618-mile short hop aboard a comfortable Boeing 787 aircraft. The four-times-a-week service includes Saturday and Sunday, the usual changeover days in the Alps, as well as Tuesday and Thursday. A test booking for a flight on Saturday 21 January, coming back a week later, produced a return fare of £208 – which includes 23kg of baggage. [Discover the best places to combine a city break with a ski holiday](   Question of the week: Day-trip from Manhattan Q Which is your favourite day-trip from New York? A Take one of the 10 daily trains from Manhattan’s Penn Station, running beside the Hudson River to the pretty and historic riverside town of Poughkeepsie: just 90 minutes from Manhattan for a typical one-way fare of $28 (£23). The stand-out tourist attraction is the Walkway Over The Hudson, a mile-long former railway span revived as the world's longest elevated footbridge. The former home of Franklin D Roosevelt, now a National Historic Site, is nearby. Stay long enough into the evening to eat some local food, drink New York State wine and enjoy the ambience. The last southbound train leaves at 8.15pm and arrives back in Manhattan just before 10pm. [Read our guide to the best hotels in New York]( STAT OF THE WEEK 1.7 The Mach number at which the [Boom Supersonic Overture aircraft]( is expected to fly – cutting the journey time from Miami to London to just five hours. What you might have missed - Lost luggage: [Man uses iPad to track down bag at airport]( - Work from anywhere: [Brazil to open first ‘digital nomad village’]( - Holiday hell: Tui passengers forced to spend the night in hotel lobby]( SIMON'S DIARY       Every day from Monday to Friday I tackle a top travel story, or explore a topic in more detail than usual in ‘Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast’ – available free on [Spotify](, [Apple Podcasts](, [Pocket Casts]( or [Acast](.         Every day from Monday to Friday I tackle a top travel story, or explore a topic in more detail than usual in ‘Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast’ – available free on [Spotify](, [Apple Podcasts](, [Pocket Casts]( or [Acast](.         I find the easiest way to rush out stories is to tweet them. It’s also an easy way to contact me. My direct messages are open and I read all DMs, though regrettably I can’t respond to every one. Let me know your thoughts [@SimonCalder](         I find the easiest way to rush out stories is to tweet them. It’s also an easy way to contact me. My direct messages are open and I read all DMs, though regrettably I can’t respond to every one. Let me know your thoughts [@SimonCalder](         Each Saturday and Sunday I take questions live at 5.30pm British time on Instagram Live – from wherever I happen to be in the world – so please do come and say hello. Follow me on [@Simon_Calder](         Each Saturday and Sunday I take questions live at 5.30pm British time on Instagram Live – from wherever I happen to be in the world – so please do come and say hello. Follow me on [@Simon_Calder](         Or you can find me on TikTok. Come and have a look at what I have been up to as I bring you top travel topics and report on the latest changes in a minute or less via [@caldertravel](         Or you can find me on TikTok. 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