Rumour confirmed.
http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au...36_hpnews.html
Mr Ansett' buys ******
LENDL RYAN
07Apr08
THE man dubbed `Mr Ansett' has been revealed as the new owner of ******, Queensland's largest privately owned airline.
Terry Byrt, a prospector and former fisherman, said it was a dream come true after buying a 100 per cent share in the company on Friday.
Mr Byrt, a long-time admirer of Ansett Airlines' founder Reg Ansett, has been fighting to resurrect the Ansett name since it fell in 2001.
He settled a $500,000 dispute last year with the administrators of the collapsed airline, to use its name and logo in the mining sector, and now sees the ****** acquisition as the next step to returning it to the sky.
"It's been a long haul but it's always been a dream and now it's finally come true," he said yesterday.
"You set a goal and you work towards it and don't let anyone deviate you from that goal.
"Reg Ansett was the impeccable businessman and he has been a role model for me.
"I always saw his company as one with high integrity and I've tried over the years to build that name again, even though it is currently in the mining industry (Ansett Resources and Industries Pty Ltd).
"Ansett is an Australian icon and someone has to fight for it because everyone wants to destroy it."
It could be some time, however, before Ansett takes to the sky again.
Mr Byrt must secure the rights to use Ansett in the aviation sector and even then, the company would be renamed Ansett ******.
"****** is a wonderful brand and it will stay that way," he said.
"I don't want to get rid of it at all."
Mr Byrt refused to disclose the cost of the acquisition but said he had been following the company since 2005.
"The time was right for myself and the airline," he said.
"The airline has been a little stagnant for a while and now it needs to get to the next level."
Mr Byrt said the airline would be expanding its fleet and routes while focusing on regional Queensland.
****** would purchase up to four 75-seater Q400 aircrafts before the end of the year to replace the 19-seat Metro aircraft, and establish new routes across the state and also to Darwin.
"It's a wonderful regional airline and we will be focusing on servicing the outback routes," he said.
"We won't be trying to take on the big players.
"We are not interested in the main front routes of Australia because we are a regional airline and that is our purpose."
A management committee will be formed to take the company forward.
Mr Byrt will head a board that will include new chief operating officer Kent Donaldson, who joins the company after 25 years senior management at Qantas, and former ****** owner Randal McFarlane who will stay on as general manager.
Others include Clive Tripett, managing director of resources company RMA Energy, and Ansett Resources chief financial officer Jeremy Clastone.
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