Ansair was an Australian bus bodybuilder owned by Ansett Transport Industries and later the

Clifford Corporation Clifford Corporation was a listed Australian company that purchased several bus manufacturing businesses in the mid-1990s before collapsing in November 1998. History In August 1995 Clifford Corporation purchased the Ansair Ansair was an Aust ...

History

Ansair was founded by

Reg Ansett Sir Reginald Myles Ansett KBE (13 February 1909 – 23 December 1981) was an Australian businessman and aviator. He was best known for founding Ansett Transport Industries, which owned one of Australia's two leading domestic airlines between ...

in 1945 at

Tullamarine Tullamarine is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Brimbank, Hume and Merri-bek local government areas. Tullamarine recorded a population of 6,733 at t ...

, to make bodies for his

Ansett Pioneer Ansett Pioneer was an Australian long distance coach operator. Founded in 1905 as the AA Withers Bus Company, the company maintained continuous operation under a variety of corporate monikers until its 1993 merger into Greyhound Pioneer Australi ...

coaches, as well as manufacture aircraft components for

Ansett Airways Ansett Australia was a major Australian airline group, based in Melbourne, Australia. The airline flew domestically within Australia and from the 1990s to destinations in Asia. After operating for 65 years, the airline was placed into adminis ...

. It also provided bus bodies for other operators. In 1987 a plant opened in

Kingston, Tasmania Kingston is a town on the outskirts of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. Nestled 12 km south of the city between and around several hills, Kingston is the seat of the Kingborough Council, and today serves as the gateway between Hobart and the D ...

, to make bodies for

Scania Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conte ...

buses used by

Metro Tasmania Metro Tasmania, commonly called Metro, a Tasmanian Government business enterprise, is the largest bus operator in the state of Tasmania, Australia, with operations in three of the four largest urban centres of Hobart, , and . Urban services in ...

, and in January 1993 a plant opened at East-West Airlines' former

Tamworth Airport Tamworth Airport is a regional airport serving Tamworth, a city in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is located from the town centre, on New Winton Road. The airport is owned and operated by the Tamworth Regional Council and is li ...

maintenance facility to make bodies for Scanias used by Sydney Buses. In August 1995 Ansett Transport Industries sold Ansair to the

. In September 1995 the Kingston plant closed, followed in 1997 by Tullamarine. Ansair ceased trading in November 1998 when the Clifford Corporation collapsed. The Tamworth plant was reopened by

Jakab Industries Jakab Industries was an Australian coachbuilder in Tamworth, New South Wales. History Jakab Industries built its first bus body in July 1973, a Ford R226. It mainly made bodies for buses for the defence forces, but also built some for commerci ...

to complete an order of

Volvo B10BLE The Volvo B10BLE was a rear-engined low-entry single-decker bus chassis manufactured by Volvo in Sweden between 1993 and 2004. The first prototypes were built in 1992, but mass production started in 1993, only a year after the high-floor B10B. I ...

s for Sydney Buses, under the Phoenix Bus brand.

References

External links

*
Bus Australia gallery
{{Australian bus manufacturers, state=collapsed Ansett Australia Bus manufacturers of Australia Australian companies established in 1945 Australian companies disestablished in 1998