Brothers Captain Victor Holyman and Ivan Holyman purchased a de Havilland D.H.83 Fox Moth VH-UQM Miss Currie which entered service on the same route on 1 October 1932, and soon amalgamated with Flinders Island Airways to form Tasmanian Aerial Services Pty Ltd.

Undaunted, Holyman's Airways purchased a second-hand D.H.84 (VH-URG Golden West) and ordered two more D.H.86s, and soon began to expand operations throughout south-eastern Australia.

On the day of a first proving flight between the capitals, 2 October, another D.H.86, VH-URT Loina, crashed into Bass Strait off Flinders Island killing all five on board.

With funding from the Orient Steam Navigation Company a new Australian National Airways was registered on 13 May 1936, and began services under its new name on 1 July 1936.

After several months of fruitless negotiations with its financiers, ANA managed to gain a controlling interest in AoA in April 1937, although the two airlines retained separate public identities until 1942.

Between them the two airlines operated four DC-2s and four DC-3s by the time of the outbreak of World War II, as well as several other aircraft including two Model As, two D.H.84s, two D.H.86s and nine de Havilland D.H.89 Rapides.

[4] The most serious of these were: Many of these accidents were put down to human error (generally on the part of the pilots), and a tightening of operational policies seemed to have arrested the problem.

When finally able to purchase new aircraft for long-range services, ANA chose the pressurised Douglas DC-6B whereas TAA acquired the Vickers Viscount.

ANA aircraft occasionally flew overseas under contract to the Commonwealth Government, such as immigrant flights between Australia and Italy in the late 1940s.

[14] When Holyman died in 1957, the shareholders offered to sell out to the government, in order that ANA might merge with TAA and some smaller airlines.