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!

While the programme is not my cup of tea, it’s undeniable that it is set in some of the nicest places in the world. One of these, St Lucia, has decided to take advantage of this and launch a six week marketing campaign to coincide with the two episodes it’s featured in.

The creative focus will be on the island’s status as a romantic honeymoon destination using the banner Made for Romance. In addition, the Saint Lucia Tourist Board is launching a microsite on its website which will go live in mid September. It will allow on island hoteliers to upload added value coupons and discount vouchers to support the campaign.

Once a client has booked a holiday to Saint Lucia, agents and operators can send them to www.saintlucianow.co.uk to download the vouchers which can be redeemed on island or through their hotel.

The booking window is from 1st October 2011 to 31st January 2012 with travel from 1st October 2011 to 31st December 2012.

Liquids purchased in departure areas of EU airports are already allowed onto flights, as are duty free purchases made in a few countries, including the US or Canada.

The 100ml limit was introduced in August 2006 after terrorists smuggled liquid explosives onto a flight in soft drink bottles, though the resulting device failed to explode. Heathrow airport alone has been confiscating 2,000 tonnes of liquids every year, to the intense irritation of passengers.

The delay until 2013 is to allow time for more effective hand luggage scanning devices to be developed and installed in all EU airports.

At its peak in mid-April, the Eyjafjallajökull volcano caused the cancellation of more than 100,000 flights, affecting eight million passengers. But there could be worse to come, vulcanologist Haraldur Sigurdsson told a conference to discuss how to improve coordination of the global response to another eruption. Each of the eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull in 920, 1612, and 1821-1823 was followed by an eruption of its larger neighbour Katla. If the same thing happens this time, Katla is likely to send up massive plumes of ash.

Nancy Graham, the director of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, called for new scientific standards to judge whether air space closure is necessary. Other speakers stressed the need for clear decision making if there is another eruption, calling for a ‘single European sky’ with air traffic in the whole of European airspace controlled by a single body.

While there isn’t much anyone can do about volcanic eruptions, it does make sense to check your travel insurance policy to see if it covers flight cancellations through volcanic activity.

Nick Harris of law firm Simpson Millar, which specialises in travel compensation claims, says companies in difficulty will often survive during the summer when business is good.

It is usually in the autumn when travel firms go bust. The timing of the Goldtrail failure is concerning but I doubt it will be the only travel business to face closure in 2010.

There is concern about the growing number of holidays created by ‘dynamic packaging’, where agents or operators put together what looks like a package holiday by buying the different elements – mainly flights and accommodation – separately. Some such providers are not accredited by ATOL, ABTA or the CAA, leaving travellers with no or limited protection if the company goes bust.

My advice to travellers is to avoid dynamic packaging where possible, said Mr Harris, or make sure that providers are accredited and have a solid reputation.

What this means for anyone booking a villa holiday is that it’s best either to buy a complete package from a villa specialist, with ATOL or ABTA accreditation, or else to book the flight and villa separately yourself, ensuring the flight provider is covered by ATOL accreditation.

The campaign, by the European Commission, is to highlight unknown or increasingly forgotten rights that passengers have when, for example, trains are cancelled, flights are delayed, bags go missing or customers are denied boarding. This comes in light of the chaos caused by the delays and cancellations made during to the ash cloud chaos where many airlines were accused of trying to shirk their responsibilities by forcing stranded passengers into paying for their own accommodation.

There will be posters at stations and airports across Europe as well as free leaflets and an associated website to look up rights and responsibilities of airlines and train companies here.

There is much more detail on the website, but in short for Rail, your six fundamental rights are as follows:

• Buying your ticket without hassle
• Travelling in Safety
• Equal service for passengers with reduced mobility
• Information on accessibility for passengers with reduced mobility
• Compensation in case of injury or death, and liability for luggage
• Protection from rail companies failing to meet their liability obligations

Interestingly, passengers can receive refunds/compensation for delays, these are the EU guidelines:

“If, when travelling on board of an international rail transport service, your train arrives at least one hour late at the final destination under the transport contract, you are entitled to compensation, provided the cause of the delay was within the control of the railway, as follows:

• From 60 minutes to 119 minutes of delay: 25% of the fare you paid for the delayed train; from 120 minutes of delay: 50% of the fare you paid for the delayed train. The payment should be made within one month after submitting your claim in vouchers or in cash(on request).

As a rule, compensation will be paid only if it is at least equivalent to €4. Special compensation rules apply to passes such as InterRail, Eurail, etc. and season tickets.”

The rules for flights are more complicated, so reading the website is probably best for the full overview, however it may be interesting to know passenger rights in relation to long delays, as this appears to be where many were confused during the ash crisis:

“You are entitled to care by the airline (phone call, refreshments, meal, accommodation, transportation to the place of accommodation) if the delay is: two hours or more for flights of 1,500 km or less; three hours or more for longer flights within the European Union or for other flights of between 1,500 and 3,500 km; four hours or more for flights of over 3,500 km outside the European Union.

“If the delay is more than five hours, and you decide not to continue your journey, you are also entitled to have your ticket reimbursed and be flown back to where you originally started your journey.

“If you get to your final destination with a delay of three hours or more, you may be entitled to identical compensation to that offered when your flight gets cancelled, unless the airline can prove that the delay was caused by extraordinary circumstances. Additionally, airlines can be held liable for damages resulting from delays.”

The commission hope to extend their policies to other forms of transport across the EU such as ferries and coaches, but for the meantime click here for information on air and rail travel.

The initiative is funded through a matching program of up to $100 million in private sector contributions and a $10 fee on visitors to the US who do not pay $131 for a visa to enter the country. The fee will be collected once every two years in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security’s Electronic System for Travel Authorisation. This will mean the US taxpayer will avoid making any contribution.

The Corporation will work with the US departments of Commerce, Homeland Security and State to develop a nationally co-ordinated, multi-channel marketing and communications program to attract more international visitors and explain changing travel security policies.

Caroline Beteta, chair of the US Travel Association and president and CEO of the California Travel & Tourism Commission, said: “We know how successful a public-private partnership to promote travel can be from our own experience at the state level.

“With the best minds coming together from government and private industry to boost international travel to our country, we can make travel an even stronger economic engine for America.”

Commenting on legislation which establishes the Corporation, US Travel Association president and CEO Roger Dow said: “The United States Congress has sent a clear message that travel is a high priority to our nation and that tangible steps must be taken to increase travel to and within the United States.”

It has also been reported that US airlines must also take an active role in the new partnership, not out of good-will, but out of self-interest by purchasing advertising space on the DiscoverAmerica.com website once the site traffic has increased and thus improving their own exposure.

I imagine that this step for Google and Russian Railways will push forward the virtual world that many use  already online, it will enable people looking at different places to go on holiday to get a realistic taster of the feeling of being there rather than staged shots in travel guides where a lot of the pictures can be quite similar.

Some state that this could be an alternative for cash-strapped people who want to look at areas of the world they may never get to travel to, however I think that it may give those with the natural curiosity to travel even more itchy feet; it certainly did me! For whatever reason you’d like to see the Trans Siberian Railway though, this new view is worth a look. Check it out here.

We’re just putting the finishing touches to the latest issue of Holiday Villas & Cottages magazine. I’ll add another post when it hits the shelves (and when we add it to the virtual newsstand here on Villaseek!) But before that happens, I wanted to highlight a few of the articles from the last issue (HV & C issue 2).

First up, Jos Simon discovers a quieter part of Crete – starting off at the Drapano Peninsula, near Chania.

And we have a brief intro to the other articles you can find in Issue 2, right here.

We’ve got articles on the Costa de la Luz, a guide to holidaying in Fuerteventura (Canary Islands), a piece on Sarasota (Gulf Coast), plus loads more features — 268 pages of travel articles and holiday villa listings. I hope you enjoy reading it – and please let us know what you think, either by adding a comment below, or by getting in contact via Villaseek.com.