Happy New Year to all our readers! Before we move on to this year’s news, here’s a round up of some of the biggest stories we covered on this blog in 2011, it certainly was an eventful year!

January started with the troubled BMI threatening to withdraw its Heathrow – Glasgow route after passenger charges at Heathrow were raised (this was confirmed a month later). Ryanair returned to Manchester with four new routes. And the political troubles in Egypt disrupted flights.

Spiraling conflict in Egypt caused complete cancellation of routes to popular holiday destinations in February. Meanwhile, Which? launched a super complaint on airline card fee charges,the cost of Qantas’ engine troubles were revealed, and airlines flying from the UK finally started to show clearer air fares.

March brought faster flight times under a deal signed by traffic controllers. But by far the biggest news of the month was the huge tsunami which hit Japan and led to re-routing of flights to avoid possible radiation risk, and advice to leave Tokyo.

A Skyscanner survey found Spain back in favour for British holidaymakers in April.

In May Belfast Airport started to charge for going for a cigarette break, and the ongoing battle between Unite and British Airways was finally settled!

More natural disasters happened in June with violent aftershocks in Christchurch, New Zealand and volcanic eruptions in Chile.

The News of the World phone-hacking scandal broke in July with airlines withdrawing their advertisements as a result.

In August research revealed the use of smartphones were ruining people’s holidays.

The Rugby World Cup was held in New Zealand in September, where Wales’ hopes were dashed.

The first biofuel passenger flight took place in October, however green campaigners claimed it wasn’t as environmentally friendly as everyone thought.

Europe announced a ban on body scanners at airports in November, but the UK decided to go against the decision.

Finally, December saw 150mph winds hit parts of Scotland, which is where we are now at the start of 2012 as tremendous winds continue to batter the UK once more.

So, what travel news is in store for 2012? Keep up to date here!

Merry Christmas to all our readers from the Villaseek blog! We hope all our readers have a wonderful festive period. Keep visiting the site for travel news, updates, tips and articles on places to stay. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @Villaseek

A Spanish Housewives association has made a formal complaint about the Ryanair charity calendars, which features scantily-clad cabin crew. The Provincial Association of Housewives and Consumers of Valencia (TYRIUS) say that it is exploiting female workers and have made their complaint to the airline and the Non-Sexist Advertising Observatory of Valencia.

The calendar is sold in order to raise money to send 50 British families with children suffering from a fragile skin condition on holiday to Spain. However, TYRIUS say the airline is profiting from the publicity to sell its low-cost flights. It also says that the calendar is preying on the dignity of women workers and its cabin crew, so should be taken off the market.

Ryanair has already sold 9,000 of the 10,000 2012 calendars, raising €100,000 for the charity, DEBRA. It said men in other professions also posed semi-naked to raise money for good causes.

Is this a bit of fun? Or is it exploitation under the guise of charity? Let us know your comments below.

New Year and Christmas is proving to be an even more popular time for holidaymakers to leave the UK in search of a different festive experience. According to ABTA, it estimates that 4.25 million Brits will be travelling away during this period compared to just under 4 million last year.

Peak travel days are expected to be 22nd and 23rd December so holidaymakers can touch down and settle in just before Christmas day.

Types of holidays vary greatly, some opt for warmer climates such as the Canary Islands, Dominican Republic and Cuba, whereas others want a Christmas snow at ski locations.

Paris, Reykjavik, Rome, Dublin and New York are popular New Year’s Eve destinations for a party vibe.

Mark Tanzer ABTA chief executive said: “With all the doom and gloom of the economy it looks like people are keen to escape for a break, whether they are visiting friends and family or looking to enjoy winter sun or guaranteed snow.”

Check out lots of foreign holiday lets at the Villaseek website to get your perfect festive getaway sorted.

Volcanoes grounding flights, snow grounding flights and stopping trains, strikes galore – 2010 has not been the best year for the travel industry, but in this run down of some of the top stories covered in the Villaseek blog throughout the year I’ll include these and also try to find some good news to include as it wasn’t all bad!

January started with the controversial full body scanner trial at Manchester Airport.

There was the awful Haiti earthquake which sparked calls for aid from holiday makers nearby and help from airlines to deliver aid packages.

The full review of the Eurostar travel delayswas revealed and spared no one.

Easyjet and Ryanair fought it out in a battle over an unflattering advert.

There was some increase in the business travel economy.

The year was plagued by strikes by British Airways cabin crew in a battle over pay and working conditions, the first were in March.

The BA and Iberia merger was agreed in April.

Perhaps one of the biggest pieces of travel related news was the volcanic ash cloud which closed down airspace across much of northern Europe and cancelled the travel plans of millions of people throughout April and May.

A coalition government was formed in the summer and one of the first things they did was to scrap the planned third runway at Heathrow.

There were more BA cabin crew strikes in May, the first for 5 consecutive days.

Despite the strikes and ash trouble, some good news for the aviation industry came as a study showed growing satisfaction with airlines.

A new campaign was launched in July to make passengers more aware of their travel rights, which made for a very informative read.

A study found that three weeks in a holiday villa is the perfect holiday!

Which? revealled airline processing fee rip offs in September.

Airbus’ with Rolls Royce engines got an awful couple of months of bad press after a mid-flight emergency on a Qantas flight.

The year ended with festive gridlock at airports and across the country’s roads due to the snow.

So, it’s been an eventful year indeed! If you want to catch up on the year’s UK travel news, then check out the 2010 review on our sister site, Holiday Cottages.

From all at Villaseek, we would like to wish readers of this blog a very Happy New Year! Most people will be back at work from today, but let’s try to ignore this for now and think about the holidays which have just gone by. Where did you go? Have you been abroad to one of Villaseek’s villas and how did you find it? I was not lucky enough to go abroad this year, but did have a cosy time at home eating lots of crackers and cheese in front of the Christmas television!

The past year has been full to the brim with travel stories, so I will soon post a run down of some of the most prominent in case you missed out on any! 2010 certainly was an eventful year for the travel industry, and in many ways I think most will be hoping that 2011 will be much quieter!

For the moment though, let us indulge in the holidays which have just gone by. Below is a festive picture I took with my new camera to get you in the mood. Please let us know what you got up to over these holidays, try also to include links to pictures of your holiday villas and surrounding scenery so we can get a feel for where you’ve been!