Ansett Australia is back for travellers. But not as you knew it

It was once Australia’s second-largest airline, ferrying more than 10 million passengers around the country every year before it collapsed into administration in 2001.

More than 20 years after its final flight, Ansett is making a comeback.

Melbourne-based technology entrepreneur Constantine Frantzeskos has revived the Ansett brand for consumers, bringing back the iconic Australian airline as an AI-powered travel agency.

Ansett had operated for 65 years before going into administration in 2001 and closing in 2002.Credit: Dallas Kilponen

The Ansett Travel platform, which is now live, is designed as a hyper-personalised travel concierge that will offer predictive trip recommendations and itineraries based on a customer’s preference, budget and calendar events.

“Ansett was such a wonderful, innovative brand. It was a pioneer of great service – they were the first ones to bring business class to Australia – and they were loved by their customers,” Frantzeskos said in an interview.

“I thought: Wouldn’t it be a cool thing to genuinely bring this brand back to life. And that’s what I’m doing – I’m building the personal travel agent of the future.

“This will be a travel agent that understands you, your family, your needs, your budget and where you’ve been. That’s the vision.”

Ansett had operated for 65 years and was the nation’s second-largest airline before its last flight in early 2002, with some 16,000 jobs lost as a result. Its downfall was seen at the time as a “perfect storm” of poor culture, financial strain, union issues and fleet mismanagement.

Acquiring the Ansett brand was relatively straightforward, Frantzeskos said. The trademark had lapsed, and the domain name www.ansett.travel was also available for purchase. He’s confident that despite the painful downfall, there are many Australians – particularly those aged 35 and above – with fond memories of the airline.

Entrepreneur Constantine Frantzeskos is reviving the Ansett brand.Credit:

“It’s a shame it went away, but I think that brand voice is still compelling, and people have nostalgia for it,” Frantzeskos said. “Just because the corporate entity behind something didn’t work doesn’t mean that the brand still doesn’t mean something. When I mention what I’m doing to people, they get a big smile on their face.”

The Ansett brand also lives on as a pilot training offering, under the brand Ansett Aviation Training.

Frantzeskos, a digital marketing veteran, has worked with Emirates, Saudi Tourism and Dubai Tourism as clients and said that experience will help deliver compelling customer experiences with Ansett. He has partnered with Melbourne-based travel start-up Travlr, which is providing the platform’s technical back-end and customer support infrastructure.

While many of the AI features are yet to be built out, the entrepreneur said he eventually wants to provide travel experiences for customers that would be possible only with AI. For now, customers can book at near-wholesale prices on flights and accommodation and pay a $99 yearly fee for VIP membership.

A screenshot of the Ansett Travel website.Credit:

“One thing I’m hoping to do is, if you’ve booked a holiday for your family, we’ll know who you are and your name and where you’re going, so I want to give you an AI-written jingle and send it to you so it can be the soundtrack of your holiday,” he said.

“I’m a big believer that you don’t need armies of people out there doing stuff that can be done better with AI. And the cost of implementation is really declining so much – you don’t need thousands of staff and to train them any more. With AI, you can just get going straight away.

“I think there are new, cool, fun experiences we can do what would never be achievable by humans.”

He added that, eventually, he believed people wouldn’t have to search or plan holidays at all.

“Your travel concierge will know when the kids are on school holidays, or when you need a break, and quietly offer the perfect trip. It’s not about replacing people – it’s about anticipating and tailoring times when we want to have fun or disconnect.”

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