Presenter Jeremy Clarkson made the official announcement with his local community radio station in Oxfordshire, Witney TV.

The news follows the dramatic unmasking of Collins in the wake of his soon to be published autobiography being announced, in which he speaks of his years on the set, and the lost opportunities that have come with it.

Collins, 33, who lives in Bristol with his wife and children, alleges that he has been denied the right to enjoy financial benefit or endorsements from his appearances, earning a fraction of what the well-recognised presenters make each week.

Mr Clarkson said that he was saddened at the actions of the Stig, calling it hurtful that what times that had shared may now be questioned. The BBC had applied for an injunction on the book’s release, but this was rejected by the court, allowing the £250,000 book from Harper Collins, to hit the sales racks. Its release it expected to create massive interest, with the show’s millions of fans keen for an insight behind the scenes.

The departure of Top Gear and the famous man in the white overalls ends seven years of collaboration, during which time the identity of the Stig became one of the best kept secrets in Britain. The last Stig was fired off an aircraft carrier when he went public.

The national carrier has been voted favourite long-haul leisure airline, beating out Cathay Pacific and Virgin Atlantic, in the 2010 Conde Nast Readers’ Travel Awards.

Air New Zealand was chosen by readers primarily for its outstanding performance in the areas of child friendliness and catering. Virgin Atlantic headed the awards in the category of service and staff, with Singapore Airlines topping the best in-flight entertainment section. In a further boost to tourism in the small South Pacific nation, the Conde Nast awards saw New Zealand voted the 5th-favourite holiday destination, with the accolade being won by Turkey ahead of Egypt, Australia and Italy.

The Conde Naste recognition comes in the same week that Air New Zealand was named the most reputable organisation in the country by business leaders. In that survey, by global management consultancy the Hay Group in conjunction with NZ Management magazine, Air New Zealand scooped the top honour from Fonterra, Fletcher Building, Beca Group and Kiwibank. The airline also ranked first in companies, with Kiwibank the top-ranked state owned enterprise. The Salvation Army led non-profit organisations, while the NZ Police topped government departments.

In 2010 to date, Air New Zealand has also won the Air Transport World Airline of the Year, two Skytrax Awards for Best Airline Australia/Pacific, Staff Service Excellence Award for the Australia/Pacific region and Best Airline at the 2010 Which? Awards.

Qantas and its budget sibling Jetstar are consolidating the majority stake they already hold on domestic flights, announcing significant expansion to the network that comprises two-thirds of the market.

Qantas today announced that it will increase its capacity by 9.6 per cent, with discount offshoot Jetstar revealing plans that will see up to 30 per cent growth by the end of this year. In coming months, an additional 65 local weekly return services will be added to the Qantas portfolio, while Jetstar will add a further 120. This will result in seven more aircraft taking to the skies as 66,000 weekly seats are added to the network.

The announcement is the latest sign that the global financial crisis has not impacted the travel industry in Australia as much as in other nations, with the local consumer recovery representing slow but steady growth for the country’s largest aviation group. Chief executive Alan Joyce said Qantas has seen improved demand domestically and had acted accordingly, typifying the ambitious expansion plans espoused by the group earlier this month.

Mr Joyce said that the group boasted the domestic market’s two most profitable carriers which afforded a position of optimisation, with ongoing changes reflecting the desire to maintain the 65 per cent market share enjoyed by the carrier. Perth and Broome in the country’s west will both benefit from new Qantas services, while Jetstar will focus on Cairns in the immediate future.

Hundreds of plane passengers were evacuated from Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport yesterday afternoon, following a breach in security regulations that was labelled as ‘serious’ by Qantas.

The incident occurred after a QantasLink regional flight arrived in Sydney from Wagga Wagga, where the 44 passengers were directed into the ‘screened’ or sterile area without being screened first. The error took place due to a transfer bus, which would have normally met the plane and driven the travellers to Terminal 2, failing to show up. This led to ground crew and flight attendants directing the passengers to a nearby aerobridge, where a staircase led them to the ‘airside’ or secure side of the departure lounge at Terminal 3.

The error has highlighted a significant security system flaw, with industry commentators claiming that a lack of pre-flight screening at regional airports across the country is causing unnecessary headaches. Even those regional locations that fly to major airports have little or no security screening before boarding, meaning all such examination must take place after arrival.

It took roughly 15 minutes for the Sydney breach to be detected according to a Qantas spokesperson, with hundred of already screened travellers asked to go through the process once more. The re-screening led to flight delays of one hour. Qantas said it was taking the incident very seriously, and has launched an investigation into the incident which it would report back to the federal and state governments.

The move comes on the back of higher loyalty-card income and a return to profit in the rebounding corporate travel market, which has led the group to speculate that first half earnings could be ‘materially stronger’ than previously thought.

At a conference call, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce told reporters that the carrier was seeing strengthening yields continue to place the recovery on track, especially in the international arena. Qantas reported a June ending second-half year net income of AUD$54 million, based on annual results, compared with an AUD$93 million year-prior loss.

The Qantas frequent-flyer program grew by 12 per cent in the second half as widespread cost-cutting programs combined with returning business traffic to help the rebound. The group remains wary though, as profit with budget rivals Virgin Blue and Tiger Airways also grew as the Qantas discount arm, Jetstar, saw a fall in profits.

According to Will Seddon, from Sydney’s White Funds Management – who oversee AUD$350 at their offices – Qantas had performed well under difficult conditions. With the worst of the recession now believed to be over, Seddon said the increasing demand and yields boded well for future earnings growth.

Mr Joyce, 44, has managed to reduce costs by around AUD$533 in the past 12 months, which form the first year of a three-year plan which includes savings of up to AUD$1.5 billion through more direct routes, employing a wider range of fuel-efficient airplanes and minimising the time spent taxing on the runway.

Tiger Airways calls the issue one of comfort or medical practicality, while Virgin Blue prefers to label obesity as impairment. Jetstar has said plainly that obesity is not a disability but all have acknowledged that there are no federal regulations or requirements about how certain individuals should be handled if they are above a certain weight or height.

Last year, European carrier Ryanair attempted to impose what was referred to a ‘fat tax’, which won popular support from the public in online voting polls. The airline had looked at the possibility of charging people over 130kg by the kilo of by measuring BMI (body mass index) but ultimately scuppered the plans due to the probability of lengthy waits at check-in in addition to the expected backlash from civil rights groups.

Now, a new study by leading travel specialist travel.com.au shows that the majority of the Australian public supports a clear policy on overweight passengers, with the website survey revealing that as many as 70 per cent of respondents believe that obese travellers should have to purchase two seats. This represents a rise from two years ago when the support level was 53 per cent.

Qantas admits it receives a fair number of complaints from passengers seated next to overweight travellers, while Virgin Blue admits it has no policy to deal with the matter other than the additional seat purchase. According to the Department of Health and Ageing almost 20 per cent of Australians are classified as obese, double the figure of 20 years ago.

The Australian Tax Office has been granted approval to wade through the massive history of transactions across both of the websites in a search for people who cheat the tax system online.

The landmark project was given the green light for the ATO to proceed by the Privacy Commissioner yesterday, and will feature transaction searches that look for either business or individual customers that have used either of the sites in the past three years. The specific emphasis will be on users who have generated a turnover in excess of $20,000. According to an ATO spokesperson, this will result in around 30,000 people coming under specific investigation.

So far, the permission only applies to eBay and The Trading Post, with other sites not considered by the ATO. Between them, Australia’s two most popular online auction sites are used by up to six million people every month, and have an annual turnover in excess of $20 billion. They pair will be legally compelled to provide the ATO with all computerised transactions dating back three years to July 2007.

The decision follows a 2009 pilot of the system which discovered that there were significant issues arising from the lack of proper reporting of online sales, with the ATO determined to weed out those who look to exploit the system for financial gain. The move also comes as so-called ‘online venture-capitalists’ have made significant sums of money in Australia in the past decade, leading the ATO to speculate that not all of it would be above board.

There had been calls for a review to the pay TV contract of crickets greatest rivalry within the UK, arguing that it should join what have been labelled a list of sporting ‘crown jewels’ on free TV, but this has been shot down by Hugh Robertson, the sports minister.

The decision means Australian viewers will once again need to subscribe to Sky to watch the next UK series of the Ashes, despite calls from former FA chief executive David Davies for an overhaul of the sports set-up on pay-per-view. Mr Robertson stated that the current UK economic crisis, in addition to the impending digital switchover in Britain, were the reasons for his decision, which now delays any review of potential free-to-air UK sporting events.

Since 1998, the UK has declared that the Grand National, Wimbledon and the FA Cup Final are all classified as being of ‘special national resonance’, therefore guaranteed of free coverage on terrestrial television. Last year, Mr Davies recommended that the Ashes be joined by the FIFA World Cup, the Open golf championship, the European Championship qualifiers, the Derby, the winter Olympics and rugby league Challenge Cup final on the free viewing list. However, Mr Robertson said in a written statement to the House of Commons: “I fully support the principle of protecting major sports events for free-to-air coverage. But with digital switchover concluding in 2012, this will result in the widespread availability of a significantly increased number of television channels, many free-to-air”.

The peaceful image of the Kingdom has been overshadowed by the political turmoil in recent months, leading the government to extend a range of measures aimed at promoting tourism to the traditionally popular Southeast Asian destination.

In addition to waivers on all tourist visas until March 31, 2011, the Thai government has launched a tourism industry relief package totalling $153 million, with hotels in particular being afforded significant benefits. Operation fees have been suspended until year’s end, and tax refunds will be provided up to 15,000 baht. This has enabled leading hotel chains such as Accor and Hilton to offer fantastic deals to entice tourists back, with Bangkok seen as they key market which the rest of the country revolves around.

Accor is offering members of its loyalty program, Advantage Plus, rooms from as low as $22 under what they have labelled as a ‘token welcome back to Thailand’ promotion. The group includes leading properties under the Sofitel, Novotel and Mercure brands in the capital and across the country.

Hilton Hotels meanwhile, in conjunction with partner Zuji, is offering 25 per cent off all Bangkok Hotels, while Shangri-La Hotels are showcasing their ‘Dream Deal’ that includes room, limousine transfers, buffet breakfast and internet all for under $200.

Anyone considering an Asian break should look into the great deals not just on hotels but on flights to Thailand that are currently available, with the country and people still as welcoming and beautiful as ever.

The group argues that the ongoing destruction of nature and loss of species in the Indonesia forests have been assisted by such notable companys as Tesco, Carrefour and Walmart. They stand accused of purchasing products from Sinar Mas, the palm oil and paper giant which supplies organisations across the globe. Greenpeace said the Sinar Mas subsidiary Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) was guilty of “relentlessly trashing rainforest’s leaving the Southeast Asian archipelago clouded in carbon which is driving species to extinction.

Bustar Maitar, the Greenpeace Southeast Asia forest campaigner, claimed that the commitments by Sinar Mas were literally not worth the paper they were printed on, yet leading global brands continue to purchase their products. Greenpeace has also published report entitled ‘How Sinar Mas is Pulping the Planet’, in which it accuses complicity from major international companies.

Among the other global customers of Sinar Mas are such heavyweights as Hewlett Packard, KFC, Corporate Express, WH Smith, Auchan and PaperlinX, while magazines cited as users of Sinar Mas paper include Cosmo Girl, ELLE, Esquire, CNN Traveller, National Geographic and Marie Claire. Burger King, Dunkin Donuts, Campbell Soup Company, Shiseido and Pizza Hut all use oil made by the company, which has also been accused of employing unsustainable logging practices which threaten biodiversity as it makes way for further pal oil plantations.