Birmingham International Airport has submitted a planning application to extend its runway. The application would see the runway extended 405m towards Bickenhill and Hampton-in-Arden. The airport hopes that the extension of the runway will be able to accommodate larger aircraft and allow it operate more long haul routes.

British Airways passengers are likely to see fuel charges on longhaul flights top the £100 mark for the first time. The rises come as the airline struggles with rising oil costs. The rise follows an increase in November which saw the fuel surcharge on a longhaul ticket rise from £76 to £96. A family of four would now have to pay £464 in fuel charges on a return trip to Hong Kong.

Air passengers could face chaos because of confusion over plans to relax baggage security rules. As of yesterday ministers are allowing airlines at some airports to allow passengers to carry two pieces of hand luggage. However, other airports have not been given permission to relax the security rule. This article has a useful guide listing the main airlines and their current baggage allowances as well as airports that do allow two bags. It all seems a little complicated at the moment but its worth checking out the list before you fly.

With the rising cost of rail fares you might be better off calling a taxi and sharing the cost with some of your fellow passengers that’s according to this report. The report says that a standard single from Euston to Birmingham New Street now costs £61.50 whereas Rosebery minicabs will take four passengers at a cost of £140, a saving of £26.50 per person.

Happy New Year! We apologise for not having a travel blog last week, but the staff at PC2Paper had a well earned break for a week over new year. Our first Travel Blog of the week for 2008 is The Cranky Flier, a blog focused mainly around (you guessed it!) airline travel.

The blogs author goes by the name of Brett and calls himself "an airline dork" who has had and obsession with the airline industry since he was a boy and became a travel agent by the age of 12!

Brett's blog gives anyone interested in particular airlines or airports a good overview of past problems and things to expect, quite useful if you are booking flights in an area you have never been before. A rather useful aspect is if you are booking flights with an airline that might be nearing bankruptcy.

New Year price increases will mean that the cost of some rail tickets will rise by nearly 15%. This is despite the fact that many services have problems with chronic overcrowding and punctuality. One of the biggest increases is on the Southeastern Railway's weekly season ticket from Hayes, Kent, to London, which will rise by 14.5%, from £24.80 to £28.50.

The Unite and PCS unions have cancelled the planned one day stoppage that would have closed seven UK airports. The strike was called off after BAA managers agreed to negotiate any changes that are made to the firm’s final salary pension scheme. Two further strikes could also be called off if a deal is reached by union representatives in a meeting planned for Thursday.

Talks aimed at stopping industrial action by airport staff have failed. Seven of Britain’s airports will now be closed by industrial action next month. The first 24 hour walkout will take place on January 7th with more strikes taking place on January 14th and January 17th. Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Southampton, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen will be affected. If the strikes go ahead the airports will close because they will involve crucial workers such as firefighters, maintenance workers and security staff.

Around 40,000 customers of Travelscope have been told that their holiday bookings can no longer be honoured after the company went into administration. All customers will get a refund but many who were due to depart in the next few weeks are angry that they have not been given time to make other arrangements.