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!

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.

VaVroom caters to all possible transfer needs, is incredibly easy to use, and most importantly is a simple way to take the hassle out of trying to find a local taxi after a long flight. One particular difference to other transfer sites that I find reassuring is that throughout the holiday season VaVroom will be open 24/7 so you will always have a (real) person on the other end of a phone to speak to should you need to at any time of the day.

VaVroom will send you a text the day before your transfer with pick up time and a reminder of their number should you need it.

You can mix and match your transfer options from having a limo or even a helicopter transfer on arrival for that glitzy start to a holiday to returning by car. There are options for frequent flyers who need to make regular transfers; also you can book a block of transfers in one and once your account has been set up (this is automatically created when you make your first booking) then a lot of the information is saved for future visits, making it a lot easier than having to fill in the same information over and over again as with other transfer companies.

So if you’re going on holiday and want to take the hassle out of finding transport to your villa, often somewhere you might not know the exact location of and could find it difficult to find a driver who does then follow this link to VaVroom, which will take the anxiety out of airport transfers.

The highest rises are in Sweden which actually had the lowest prices in 2009. Germany saw the lowest increases in price, up 4% for unleaded and 12% for diesel. Diesel costs 19p less a litre in Spain (£1) than in the UK (£1.23).

Luxumbourg is the thriftiest place to drive with 91p litres of diesel, the only place in Europe where you can get this amount of fuel for under a pound. 

In France, diesel costs 24% more than a year ago but still remains 5p cheaper than in the UK. However, unleaded petrol in France has risen by only 7.6%, far below the 17.3% increase in the UK.

Post Office head of travel money Sarah Munro said: “Fuel costs may have risen steeply across Europe this year but our survey again found wide variations in pump prices. This means that UK tourists taking motoring holidays can still make significant savings if they plan carefully. For example, motorists travelling through eastern France could save 15.7 per cent by crossing into Luxembourg and filling up there.

“The clear message to tourists is to check prices before planning their route and fill up in countries where unleaded petrol or diesel is cheaper. Avoid topping up the tank on motorways and instead get fuel at the ferry ports, where it is invariably cheaper, or stop at European supermarkets where it costs less too.

“With sterling on the rise, tourists should also change money in the UK before they leave to avoid paying more overseas.”

If you’d like more information on the report, then you can view it here.

Image by Flickr user EkoSystem

The good news for anyone driving in Spain is that the country’s roads have been getting safer at a remarkable rate. New figures show that road deaths in 2009 fell for the sixth year running, with the total of 1,897 down by 13 per cent on the 2008 figure. The last time road deaths were below 2,000 in Spain was 1964, when there were just two million cars on the road, compared with 31 million today. In the last six years the number of road deaths has more than halved, from 3,993 in 2003 to last year’s 1,897. Improved driving standards were the main reason, according to the Spanish interior ministry: “ The Spanish drove better, they were more cautious and safety-minded.”

A lot of the credit must also go to Spain’s huge investment in better roads, as well as the improved safety of modern cars.

Want to practise your Spanish? Read the full story as it appeared in El Mundo.