Ansett Australia was once an icon of the Australian skies. For decades, it was a name synonymous with elegance, innovation, and exceptional customer service. After the airline collapsed into administration in 2001, few thought the brand would ever take flight again.
That is, until now
Nearly 24 years since its last flight, Ansett has re-emerged—this time as Ansett.Travel platform – a fully AI-driven online travel agency. The revival comes not with jets or runways, but with algorithms and digital concierges. And it’s all the brainchild of Melbourne-born entrepreneur Constantine Frantzekos.
“I think Ansett was a kind of magic,” Frantzekos tells Neos Kosmos.
“It was always really the greatest of what travel was for me. It was so innovative. As a kid, I remember the first time I travelled—our family went to Perth on holidays. They really were a pioneering airline and known for the best of customer service.”
For Frantzekos, the Ansett brand embodied a golden age of travel—one he’s determined to revive, but in a very modern form.
A legacy brand reborn
The story of Ansett’s unexpected comeback began when Frantzekos noticed the once-mighty airline’s trademark had lapsed. Seeing opportunity in reminiscence, he quickly registered the name, envisioning a transformation of the brand from defunct airline to futuristic travel tech.
What he’s created is Australia’s first fully AI-run travel platform, powered by machine learning, deep personalisation, and a partnership with Victoria’s Startup of the Year, TRAVLR—dubbed The Future of Travel Commerce.
“With this new AI engine, I want to bring back travel in the way that it used to be—very personalised and very hospitable,” he says.
“Ansett is like the Costco of travel. You go onto the website and over time it begins to know everything about you and your needs.”
Frantzekos describes it as a new era of intuitive travel.
“Everyone will have their own personal travel agent, their own travel concierge—and that isn’t just for big family trips to Greece.
“It’s for anything. A weekend away in the country. Looking for a hotel near a conference. Taking the kids to Sovereign Hill on a Sunday afternoon.”
He gives an example of what the system can offer: “You can say, ‘I have a friend coming to town in December, they’re English and they’re here for the Ashes—what should we do around Melbourne?’ And the program will develop an MCG sports museum tour.”
“And I can get that at near wholesale prices through the Ansett VIP platform.”
The Greek connection: trust and community
Frantzekos, who has worked with global tourism giants like Emirates and was behind the Visit Victoria, ‘Every bit different’ campaign, knows that travel isn’t just about logistics—”it’s about building relationships, especially for communities like Australia’s Greek diaspora”.
“The travel agent was king, particularly within Greek and other migrant communities,” he says.
“You’d go in and they would fix you up. You didn’t have to think about anything. They knew you, knew what you wanted. They’d ring you and say, ‘I’ve opened up the flight to Greece’—in classic Olympic Airlines style—three weeks before the flight. And by the way, ‘You can stay in Singapore for two nights.'”
Frantzekos wants to replicate that deeply personal experience—with AI.
A smarter, cheaper, more personalised experience
The Ansett.Travel platform is built around two core ideas: deep personalisation and affordability. Users can sign up for a VIP membership—currently priced at $99 a year—and access what Frantzekos describes as “near wholesale” prices on hotels, flights, packages, and cultural experiences.
“To generate income, there are two parts of the puzzle,” he tells Neos Kosmos.
“Ansett learns from you because we hope that, over time, you’ll have a membership with us. The business is actually very simple – you pay your annual membership, and for that, we make almost no margin on the travel products.”
The result, ” is dramatic savings for consumers”.
“If you go onto the platform, you’ll see how much cheaper the prices are compared to other travel platforms.
He says he is not “not making the 20 to 30 per cent margins that the travel agents do”.
“Travel agents must pay for armies of staff and big corporate overheads. We’re running lean—because we put all the money back into the technology and the people.”
It is like the Uber of travel—with personalised service. A browser extension is already available on Chrome and Firefox, with Safari to follow soon. As users browse hotel listings on other sites, the Ansett extension will pop up with real-time comparisons.
“It’ll say: it’s 15 per cent or 7 per cent cheaper on Ansett.Travel.”
AI meets human hospitality
Despite the platform’s digital-first nature, Frantzekos insists that human interaction remains vital.
“It’s not all AI,” he says. “If there is a crisis, there are humans involved to help. We’re designing the experiences to be as magic as possible—and then the customer service people are literally on the phone. If something’s a problem, you call them, and it’s done.”
The AI handles the more mundane—but powerful—personalisation work.
“For example, it might say, ‘It’s been a while since you’ve searched for Greek holidays this year. Maybe instead of Greece, how about Vietnam, or a weekend on the Gold Coast?'”
From travel concierge to the skies?
Frantzekos whose family is from Leros, is open about his ambitions. “Look, the sky is the limit—pardon the pun,” he says, laughing. “But for now, what I’d really like to do is be just the very best travel concierge for every single Australian.”
“I’ll be very happy if I can have every Australian signed up as an Ansett VIP and thinking, ‘Wow, I’m saving so much money and it’s giving me not just big international holidays, but also short breaks.'”
Frantzekos’s travel credentials are noteworthy. He spent 13 years as the lead digital strategist for Emirates and was the architect behind Visit Victoria’s international tourism campaign Every Bit Different. In 2019, Greece’s then Tourism Minister was set to engage him to develop the country’s global tourism strategy—but then the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
From past to future
Ultimately, the revival of Ansett is more than a business venture.
“My family had a background in hospitality and leisure – they owned the Metro nightclub back in the day – along with other clubs”
It’s a blend of personal nostalgia, a commitment to service, industry knowledge, community memory, and technological ambition.
“I looked up to that brand for so many years,” Frantzekos says. “It stood for something. It was always about excellence, about looking after people. That’s what I want to recreate—with new tools, new thinking, and a lot of heart.”
And if you’ve ever dreamed of bringing back the magic of travel—the kind where someone just knows what you need—Ansett may just be your next boarding pass.
