Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast

I have been enjoying an excellent day out from the Croatian city of Split to Krka National Park and the town of Skradin. The excellent local guide, Mate (pronounced Matay) used WhatsApp to keep everyone in the loop – sending out maps, coordinating movements and ensuring everyone was on the bus at precisely the right time. Eye-opening in all senses.

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On Thursday night a Ryanair flight from Agadir to Manchester was diverted due to a disruptive passenger. A tech issue was found. Ryanair wanted to lay on a rescue flight using its EU, rather than UK, subsidiary. But the CAA said no.

Eddie Wilson, chief executive of Ryanair DAC (the EU part) is furious.

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A report says the number of applications for these cards – which get you free or reduced-rate health care – is falling. I think that's no surprise, but it's a good moment to remind travellers about why they are worthwhile.

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Today I've discovered the average plane flying in and out of Heathrow have three fewer passengers than they did a year ago.

P&O Cruises has disappointed 1,800 passengers with the abrupt cancellation of a voyage with 24 hours' notice.

And after the sad passing of Pope Francis, what are the effects for tourists in Rome?

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I'm talking to Andy Anderson, founder of Passport Waiting Time – which does what it says and helps travellers with their expectations of how long it will take to get that all-important document. So how does HM Passport Office rate?

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Many travellers have welcomed speculation that facial recognition combined with digital passports could allow smoother journeys through the airport. But as I have been hearing from tech writer and broadcaster, Kate Bevan, the concept raises serious concerns – from digital exclusion to privacy.

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Sandra Greig, senior cabin crew for Aer Lingus, says Barbados is her favourite destination anywhere in the world. Sandra kindly took a call from me while on the island, to which she had flown from Manchester on one of the three weekly flights the airline offers.

Sounds like I should get back there soon ...

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Rod Dennis of the RAC is telling me how to avoid getting caught in the worst of the traffic over Easter, which is projected to peak on the M25 anticlockwise from the Gatwick turn-off (M23) to the M40 to Oxford and Birmingham at 11.45am on Good Friday.

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That's the long-term prospect for the West Midlands airport, which aims to compete with the London airports. In the very short term, Birmingham is expecting its busiest Easter ever. I'm talking to the airport's chief executive, Nick Barton, who says the restoration of flights to New York can't come soon enough.

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That's the hope of London St Pancras Highspeed, the company that runs the UK's only functioning international rail station – as well as the High Speed 1 rail link to the Channel Tunnel near Folkestone in Kent.

Chief executive Robert Sinclair has been telling me about the prospects for trebling the number of international passengers between the UK and Continental Europe, adding new destinations and cutting fares.

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Villains are stalking social media in search of passengers frustrated at the lack of contact from their airlines.

I've been hearing from Karen Welsh, who told me: "Potentially being scammed out of a fortune is upsetting and worrying, but more than anything, if I could get there then goodness knows who else could get there as well."

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It's Travel Desk Tuesday, and I'm talking to travel writer for The Independent Amelia Neath about a survey that rates the most beautiful approaches to airports around the world – including three that are reasonably accessible for British travellers.

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When Europe’s much delayed entry-exit system finally takes effect, motorists departing by ferry from Dover will face a two-stage process to enter the EU – with the locations for each element taking part a mile apart. AI will be deployed to detected any unusual activity between the two checkpoints.

Doug Bannister, chief executive of the Port of Dover, has been telling me all about it.

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