INDEPENDENCE AT A PRICE

Also in the news over this week has been a succession of major disruptions to peak season travel.

It started with the fire in a car park shuttle bus, which led to the closure of Stansted Airport and the cancellation of dozens of flights on Good Friday – one of the busiest days of the year. And it has carried on this week with the French rail strike, which is set to carry on sporadically for the next three months, and an air traffic control glitch on Tuesday that delayed half of Europe’s flights.

Whenever things like this happen, it reminds me of the vulnerability of independent travellers. When things go wrong, trying to re-book flights, hotels, car hire and so on is hard enough for tour operators – even with all their contacts, experience and