The meeting of countries opposed to the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) took place in Moscow a few days ago. The result is a declaration signed by 23 countries listing eight measures they will consider adopting unless the ETS is scrapped.

The US, China, Brazil, India, Japan and Russia are among those who have signed, but Canada, Egypt and Qatar, who were involved in earlier protests against the scheme, decided against signing the declaration.

The retaliatory steps in the declaration include imposing new taxes on EU airlines, and suspending talks about giving European carriers more flying rights outside the bloc. Also, Russia has threatened to cap flights by airlines from the European Union, such as British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.

Russia’s deputy transport minister Valery Okulov said he was looking at giving preference to routes over Siberia to carriers from Japan, China and other Asian nations instead of those from the EU. This measure could force the airlines to take longer and more expensive routes to Asia and Australia, which may mean numbers of new flights will be limited.

Moscow is also considering banning Russian airlines from taking part in the scheme, following China’s example. A similar action is also being considered by the US Congress. However, the alliance of opponents have backed away from the more extreme measures, such as re-opening existing EU trade deals to pressure European industries.

Connie Hedegaard, the EU climate commissioner, maintains that Brussels will not back down on the particulars of the scheme.

The officials gathered in Moscow will meet again in Saudi Arabia in the summer.

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!

A technical hitch on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft has been reported by All Nippon Airways (ANA). Pilots had to manually wind down the landing gear after an indicator lamp in the cockpit suggested the automated system had failed and the wheels were not properly down. The plane landed on its second attempt at Japan’s Okayama airport.

ANA said it and Boeing are investigating the problem.Boeing has refused to confirm the problem was with a hydraulic valve, only confirming that they are investigating the problem.

The aircraft is flying again, but only on domestic routes for a trial period, before being switched to international services.

Are you a budding travel writer but have no cash to go across the world? Well, accoding to the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, the Japanese Tourism Agency plans to give away 10,000 free airfares to visit areas of Japan! All they ask in return is that you write a report about your trip which will be published online.

The move is to promote overseas tourists to visit the country in an attempt to help boost the tourism industry in the aftermath of the nuclear disaster following the tsunami in March.

Would-be travellers will have to submit online applications detailing the areas which they would like to visit. The agency hopes that the successful applicants will write back positive reports about the country, which will help to ease worries about visiting the country after recent events.

The programme, which will require travellers to cover other costs such as accommodation, is expected to start from next April, subject to government budgetary approval.

The lack of demand for flights to Tokyo has prompted British Airways has suspended its services to the city, only a couple of months after it introduced them this year. BA says it will keep demand “under review” however, and will continue with its daily service to and from Narita.

The Foreign Office is still advising against all but essential travel to areas north east of Tokyo following the earthquake and tsunami in March. There are still risks of aftershocks and more tsunamis, and last week the Japanese Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) announced the provisional accident severity level at the Fukushima nuclear plant had been raised from level five to seven on the international nuclear event scale.

Exactly one month after the first devastating earthquake and tsunami, another powerful earthquake has hit north-east Japan measuring 7.1 in magnitude.

The BBC reported that the tremor triggered a brief tsunami warning which forced workers to evacuate the already crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.

The epicentre of the quake was in Fukushima prefecture and struck shortly after the country stopped for a minute’s silence to remember the nearly 28,000 dead or missing in the 11th March disaster.

The official death toll from the disaster is 13,127, while 14,348 remain unaccounted for. Over 150,000 people have been made homeless from the devastation.

The Japanese government has just raised the overall severity of the nuclear disaster to level 7, however they are quick to stress that this is in response to the whole disaster and not a sudden increase in any nuclear leakage or threat to human life.

Fears of higher than normal radiation levels in Tokyo have prompted British Airways to give passengers with tickets to Tokyo the option of cancelling or altering their flights.

Passengers who bought tickets before 11th March and are booked to travel to and from Tokyo up to 31st March can claim a refund, re-book for a later date or switch to another destination. Those with tickets for travel from 31st March to 10th April can delay their flights or switch to another destination.

British Airways is operating its flights to Tokyo via Seoul in South Korea from today to avoid crew staying overnight in Japan. Its services to Haneda airport will operate from Narita instead until 27th March.

According to BBC reports, radioactive iodine levels in some areas are twice the recommended safe level and officials have warned the tap water is unsafe for babies to drink, but that there is no immediate health risk to others.

The British government is chartering planes to fly home Britons who want to leave Tokyo after yesterday’s advice to consider leaving.

The US has urged Americans living within 80km of Fukushima to leave the area, even though the Japanese government’s exclusion zone currently sits at 20km around the site.

The Japan National Tourism Organisation said: “While painstaking rescue and recovery efforts continue in the severely struck Tohoku region, the capital city Tokyo has been recovering from a strong shock, and western Japan is unharmed.

“Both Narita and Haneda airports have been reopened, although public transportation in and around Tokyo has been recovered only partially.”

In Tokyo and the surrounding areas, periodical blackouts have been imposed for power conservation,which is causing train delays and cancellations.

“Some hotels and other businesses shorten the business hours, and it is recommended to refer their updates in advance. This region may also experience some aftershocks.”

The UK Foreign Office said there would be no charge to fly back for Britons directly affected by the tsunami, while others would have to pay £600. It is advising that the first option for leaving Japan should remain commercial flights.

A spokeswoman said: “Commercial flights continue to operate to and from Japan. British nationals with commercial flight bookings should continue to use these flights and you should continue to make reservation and other arrangements with your airline as usual. If you wish to leave and cannot secure tickets for a commercial flight, you can register your interest in using our charter option to leave Japan by calling 44 20 7008 6900.”

Members of loyalty schemes with United Continental Holdings will receive a mileage bonus when they donate money to the American Red Cross to support victims of Japan’s earthquake and tsunami.  The airline group says it is committing up to five million miles for contributions made before the end of April. Members who donate $50 will receive 250 bonus miles, or 500 miles for $100.

United Airlines Foundation president Sonya Jackson said: “Our thoughts go out to those living and working in Japan, including more than 1,000 of our own co-workers, as they deal with this tragic event. Our customers always step up in times like these, and we are proud to do our part by offering a mileage bonus incentive to our Mileage Plus and OnePass members who are supporting this critical humanitarian relief effort.”

United and Continental are also flying doctors and healthcare workers out to the stricken country and donating cargo space for relief supplies.

Customers wanting to donate money should visit http://american.redcross.org/unitedairlines-pub. To receive the mileage, members of Mileage Plus should email japanmileagebonus@united.com and include an electronic receipt from the American Red Cross showing a donation of $50 or more, their name and Mileage Plus number.

Members of OnePass should send an e-mail to onesolution@coair.com including an electronic receipt from the American Red Cross showing a donation of $50 or more, their name and OnePass number.

The Foreign Office are advising Britons to consider leaving Tokyo and Northern Japan as the situation with the nuclear power stations remains uncertain. Although there is currently no risk to human health outside of the exclusion zone around the power stations the continued struggle the country faces has sparked this new advice.

A Foreign Office statement said: “Due to the evolving situation at the Fukushima nuclear facility and potential disruptions to the supply of goods, transport, communications, power and other infrastructure, British nationals currently in Tokyo and to the north of Tokyo should consider leaving the area.”

Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne said the advice was “not an order” but that given the situation “British nationals should consider leaving Tokyo and northern Japan”. He said they should be able to leave on a plane, or at least travel to other parts of the country by train or bus, but if the capacity needs to be increased by the British government, this will happen.