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!

Ms Greening said that she would carefully consider the results from the health report, but at the moment the reasons for introducing the scanners are still a pressing concern.

She added: “I do not believe that a ‘pat down’ search is equivalent in security terms to a security scan. The purpose of introducing security scanners in the first place was to protect the travelling public better against sophisticated terrorist threats.

“These threats still exist and the required level of security is not achieved by permitting passengers to choose a less effective alternative.”

In a Parliamentary written statement, Ms Greening said she believed, in principle, that scanners should be rolled out more widely at UK airports.

What do you think about this defiance against the EC ruling? Is it a good idea? Should the scanners be banned, or is this a knee-jerk reaction to initial research?

BMI may be making a loss at the moment, but it is in control of 9% of coveted slots at Heathrow. Competition authorities could investigate the deal as Virgin Atlantic are expected to oppose the purchase as it would give IAG a rise from around 45% to 54% of landing slots. But speaking to BBC Radio 4, IAG chief executive Willie Walsh said IAG will have around half of the slots at Heathrow, still less than rivals Lufthansa at Frankfurt and Air France/KLM at Paris.

IAG reported a 31% fall in third-quarter profit, which was better than expected in the challenging market, and has prompted the move.

“We think the move would be a clear and meaningful positive for IAG in the long term, but would increase short-term risk, associated with the implementation of the deal. It is not clear how competition authorities will react,” said Andrew Lobbenberg, analyst at the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Sri Lanka is introducing a new electronic travel authorisation in January 2012 to replace its visa on arrival for tourists.

Holidaymakers will pay $50, the equivalent of £32, for a permit that allows them to enter twice within 30 days. The visa service will still be available until it starts properly. Go here for information and applications.

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.

In a statement, the Co-operative Group said: ”The Group is a consumer-owned business which adheres to strong ethical standards. These allegations have been met with revulsion by the vast majority of members who have contacted us,”

“We would urge everyone involved to bring this matter to a speedy conclusion for the sake of all those who are affected by these events.”

Easyjet said it is monitoring the situation: “Easyjet understands the concerns raised by the public, including many of our own staff and passengers, about these serious and shocking claims.” said corporate affairs manager Andrew McConnell.

He added: “We will actively monitor the situation and await the outcome of any investigation.”

It has recently emerged that relatives of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan may have had their phones hacked, as well as murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, relatives of the 7/7 bombing victims, and the parents of murdered Soham girls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.

What do you think of companies withdrawing their advertising at this early stage of the investigations? Is it admirable? Should they withdraw indefinitely if the allegations are proved to be true?

Gatwick did best of the London airports, reporting growth of 34.2 per cent, with an additional 702,500 passengers compared with April 2010. Heathrow was up by 31.5 per cent and Stansted by 26.2 per cent.

In the North, Manchester saw passenger numbers grow by 32.5 per cent, while in Scotland, Edinburgh was up by a whopping 43.9 per cent and Aberdeen by 33.2 per cent.

The fastest growth came in scheduled international traffic, with charter and domestic flights lagging behind.

They are calling on Chancellor George Osborne to abandon plans for further rises in aviation tax, which has increased 26-fold since its 1994 introduction.

In an open letter to the Chancellor, the campaigners point out that UK has the highest levels of aviation tax in Europe. Denmark, Sweden, Malta and the Netherlands have axed aviation taxes.

ABTA chief executive Mark Tanzer said: “When it comes to the future of tourism in the UK, the Government’s words and deeds simply do not match up. The Prime Minister has identified tourism as one of the top five industries to drive growth, yet aviation tax has become a punitive stealth tax.

“It is vital that the Government understands the impact it is having on the health of the tourism industry in the UK. The industry is willing to pay its way, but a 26-fold increase since 1994 puts the UK at a competitive disadvantage when compared with our European neighbours and punishes UK holidaymakers and business travellers unfairly.

“Air passenger numbers have decreased by 22% since 2007 when the tax was last increased, and increasing it yet further will cause significant strain on hard-pressed family budgets and hamper the UK economy’s growth.”

British Airways chief executive Keith Williams said: “We recognise the exceptional difficulty of the country’s fiscal position and we are content to pay our fair share. But the UK airline industry is already the most heavily taxed in the world and any further tax burden will be counterproductive to the country’s economic recovery.”

UKinbound chief executive Mary Rance said: “We feel that it is vital for UKinbound to join forces with colleagues in the inbound and indeed outbound industries to stand united against this damaging tax, which only works to make the UK uncompetitive and unattractive as a destination.

“It acts directly against the wider objective of making the UK one of the top five tourism countries and is certainly a barrier to growth in inbound tourism, the third largest export industry to the UK. Our contribution to the UK economy could be even greater with a fairer tax on aviation.”

The campaign includes a new site on Facebook, afairtaxonflying, inviting members of the public to sign up.

It turns out that Liverpudlians have more sex on holiday, Londoners most dislike body odour, Sheffield holidaymakers buy the most new clothes for their holidays, child-free couples worry about litter and Brummies abstain from drinking alcohol.

Despite the regional variations, the research found most holidaymakers changed their behaviour when away from home and not neccesarily for the best as they eat less healthily, exercise less, drink more, spend more and dress more provocatively. It is a holiday from the everyday though, so it isn’t surprising!

Until now, European airspace has been divided into 27 different areas under the control of national governments. This has forced airlines to zig-zag between the different airspaces and military exclusion zones, flying longer routes than necessary, increasing emissions and costs for operators and sometimes even jeopardizing safety.

Diagram courtesy of Lufthansa

The EU ‘Single European Sky’ (SES) initiative was launched in 1999 to create a single European air navigation system by setting up nine Functional Airspace Blocks (FABs). Two have already been agreed – UK/Ireland and Denmark/Sweden – and the new central European FAB is the third and most important, as 55 per cent of all flights in Europe pass through this block.

EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas said he hoped the new agreement will be “an inspiration for the other member states in their efforts to have all the functional airspace blocks in place by the deadline of 4 December 2012.”

The six FABs still to be set up include the ‘Blue Med’ group which will gather together Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Malta along with associates Tunisia, Egypt and Albania as well as Jordan and Lebanon as observers.

Despite the current financial crisis, air traffic in Europe is expected to double by 2030, increasing from the current level of 10 million flights to 20.4 million flights per year.