Ansett is back – sort of – and it wants to be the “Costco of travel”, a warehouse‑value reboot that could supercharge holiday demand and spill over into Australia’s resort towns, coastal shires and short‑stay property markets. It has been 24 years since Ansett stopped flying after the collapse of one of Australia’s biggest airlines, and the travel world looks unrecognisable. You can now fly from Melbourne to Sydney for as little as $46 on a good day, roughly half what you would have paid in the late 1990s. Back then fares were higher, but you did not pony up extra for luggage or to pick a seat online. MORE NEWS Gen Z Aussie crowns himself president of new country How a fatal deal with Amazon doomed Toys ‘R’ Us The Aus town no one wants to live in Low‑cost carriers took hold, with Virgin, Jetstar and Tiger fighting for your booking while Ansett’s former adversary Qantas entrenched itself as the premium, corporate carrier. Now the storied name has reappeared where few expected: not on a tailfin, but in a browser bar. Ansett was once Australia’s favourite airline. Reg (Reginald) M. Ansett with Ansett’s first pilot Vern Cerche (left). Ansett Australia has re‑entered the travel industry as an AI‑operated travel agent called The Ansett Travel Platform, fronted by Melbourne tech entrepreneur Constantine Frantzekos. In July last year, he told his LinkedIn followers that had spotted a “quiet opportunity” when he noticed the once‑famous Ansett trademark had lapsed. “I registered the trademark, created a fleet of AI agents, and – thanks to a tech integration with (Victoria’s Startup of the Year) TRAVLR – The Future of Travel Commerce – have now turned Ansett into a one-founder online travel agency,” Frantzekos states on LinkedIn. He claims Ansett is the country’s first “truly AI-run travel agency” and says it uses artificial intelligence to shave money off the price of hotels, flights and holiday packages. Melbourne tech entrepreneur Constantine Frantzekos is taking Ansett to new highs. The website is already live with ads for holiday deals to Tokyo, Athens, Las Vegas and Bali. As he puts it, Ansett is “like the Costco of travel”. For property watchers, that pitch matters. If AI‑driven bundling reliably pushes down package prices, more Australians will take more trips, more often. That has a habit of lifting short‑stay occupancy, smoothing shoulder seasons and directing fresh demand into the very destinations Ansett once helped make famous. But the romance of the brand owes everything to its origin story. From oranges to airways: Ansett’s pioneering spirit An offshoot of a successful road transport company, Ansett Airways was incorporated in Victoria as a public company in 1937 by Reginald Ansett, launching services from Melbourne to Sydney, Broken Hill and Adelaide. Before that, Ansett’s first route ran between Hamilton in western Victoria and Melbourne under a freight licence. Not allowed to carry passengers, Mr Ansett sold each traveller an orange for 2 pounds and claimed he was transporting freight when they arrived, until a licence to carry passengers was later granted. USA entertainer pianist Liberace (Wladziu Valentino Liberace) disembarking from an Ansett Airlines passenger plane at Adelaide Airport in 1971. Happy Birthday Sunshine. Ansett celebrated its Airlines of New South Wales flights into Maroochy Airport in 1980. SA cricketer Ian Chappell and wife Kay waving on tarmac before boarding Ansett Airlines plane at Adelaide Airport on their honeymoon trip in 1966. During World War II, Mr Ansett suspended all scheduled services in favour of more lucrative work for the USA air force. As part of those efforts, Ansett planes assisted in the evacuation of Darwin after it was bombed in 1942. Once the war ended, he worked hard to resume commercial operations, helped by new aircraft funded with money made during the war. Ever expansion‑minded, Ansett even began developing holiday resorts in the Whitsundays in 1947, knitting together aviation, tourism and the places Australians would one day buy into. Always there in times of need, the airline again helped evacuate Darwin after Cyclone Tracy in 1974. By 1969, Ansett had become Australia’s largest domestic airline. A decade later, control passed to News Corp and TNT. Going global: Bali and beyond Not satisfied with domestic dominance, Ansett set its sights internationally, operating its first flight to Bali on September 11, 1993. Routes to Osaka, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Shanghai, Seoul, Taipei and Kuala Lumpur closely followed. It expanded into New Zealand in 1987 after the New Zealand government opened its skies to the airline. But when Australia reneged on an agreement to reciprocate, Air New Zealand bought a 50 per cent stake in Ansett Australia in 1996 and purchased the remaining 50 per cent in June 2000. The slide came quickly. Ansett Australia flight attendants holding hats which are no longer part of uniform. (L-r) Alice Stewart with Kirsty Mills, Ellie Gleeson and Tanya Kaploon. First commercial flight in Australia to be staffed solely by men touched down at Adelaide Airport, 17 Sep 1987. The all-male Ansett Airlines crew (from left) Brett Kirby, steward, Mark Travers, purser, Captain Alan Learmonth, Flight Officer Neil Hess, Richard Sall, steward, and Gary Davern, steward. Ansett Airlines steward on board in 1987. Facing cash flow and liquidity problems, Ansett Australia was placed into voluntary administration in September 2001. Limited services resumed between major cities the next month after a federal government guarantee, and the airline was almost saved by the Tensa consortium led by Melbourne businessmen Solomon Lew and Lindsay Fox. Their proposal was withdrawn after they received no support from the government, and administrators were appointed to finalise all matters on March 4, 2002. The unravelling: Ansett’s final descent The fallout was immense: around 16,000 people lost their jobs and a 65‑year legacy circled the drain. At its height, Ansett flew an estimated 10 million passengers and operated a 69‑plane fleet. For many Australians, the name still evokes a pre‑fees era of flying and the golden age of the domestic getaway. Paramount Tour Services owner bus driver Ron Payne in 2002 after Ansett collapsed. Aust politician Bill Heffernan (l) and demonstrators outside Parliament House in Canberra protesting the collapse of Ansett in 2001. Mark Littely, 39, the last pilot to fly for Ansett on the red-eye from Perth to Melbourne. Fast‑forward to today’s AI reboot and the pitch is simple: revive a trusted brand, stitch it to automation, and pass the savings on. If Frantzekos is right about the “Costco of travel”, bargain‑hunters could find more room in their budgets, and the knock‑on effects could be felt from the Whitsundays to ski country. It is not a return to the skies, but for an older generation who remembers that blue‑and‑gold livery – and a new one chasing value – it might be the comeback that counts.