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A Melbourne-based tech businessman has revived the Ansett brand as an “AI-powered” online travel agency.
Constantine Frantzeskos, who describes himself as a “marketing and digital strategist to the world’s boldest organisations”, has partnered with travel startup Travlr to launch his new “Ansett Travel” platform, which he says will use AI to offer personalised recommendations and itineraries.
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The original Ansett, founded in 1936, collapsed 65 years later amid severe financial, fleet, and industrial relations issues, leaving around 16,000 people unemployed.
Two of its regional subsidiaries, Hazelton and Kendell Airlines, merged into Rex – now itself in voluntary administration – while the Ansett brand itself also survives in Ansett Aviation Training, which offers simulator training in Melbourne.
Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, Frantzeskos said Ansett, whose trademark he acquired after it lapsed, was “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,” he said.
“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.”
According to Frantzeskos, he wants to create an AI “travel concierge” that can replace the need to search or plan holidays.
“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 told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“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 [that] would never be achievable by humans.”
