Varig - Definition and Overview

Varig Boeing 777 (PP-VRB)

Another view of PP-VRB

Varig McDonnell Douglas MD-11

Varig (Varig Brazilian Airlines) also known as Viação Aérea Rio-Grandense SA, is Brazil's leading international airline, followed by TAM. Varig uses the IATA designator RG.

The airline flies the Boeing 737, Boeing 747, Boeing 767 and MD-11. It is a member of the Star Alliance,

History

Varig's beginnings can be traced to May 7, 1927 at the Porto Alegre Commercial Association meeting. It was there that Otto Ernst Meyer, a German immigrant, signed the certificate declaring Varig an airline company.

Varig's first plane was a nine passenger Atlantico 9. Its first employee, Ruben Berta, later became the airline's President and led the airline through great expansion until his death in 1966.

Varig's first flight was from Porto Alegre to Rio Grande (the Brazilian city), stopping in Pelotas.

Varig has had three crashes with fatalities since 1970:

• 11 July 1973, near Paris, France, forced landing due to fire in a rear lavatory, 123 deaths
• 3 January 1987, near Abidjan, Ivory Coast, engine failure, 50 deaths
• 3 September 1989, near Sao Jose do Xingu, Brazil. Pilot navigational error led to fuel exhaustion and a forced landing in the jungle. Twelve of the 48 passengers were killed in the crash. The survivors were discovered two days later.

Its safety record rates an “A", the highest grade possible, according to Air Rankings Online (see rankings at Airline Rankings (http://www.airsafetyonline.com/safetycenter/reportcard.shtml)). Rankings are cumulatives, based on the number of fatal accidents per million flights that the carrier has flown since 1970.

Subsidiaries

Varig has two Brazilian subsidiaries: Nordeste airlines and Rio-Sul airlines, as well as a domestic codeshare partnership with TAM. In 2004, Varig decided to completely merge these two regional subsidiaries (Nordeste and Rio-Sul) into the company.

Other facts of interest

• Varig has heavily invested in Uruguayan airline Pluna
• Most of Varig's flights to Japan stop in Los Angeles, California, making it a commonly used airline for US-Japan passengers.

Hubs

• Belo Horizonte
  • Pampulha Domestic Airport - terciary regional hub

• Brasília
  • Juscelino Kubistchek International Airport - terciary domestic hub; secondary regional hub

• São Paulo
  • Congonhas Airport - major regional hub
  • Guarulhos International Airport - main official hub, for domestic and international flights

• Rio de Janeiro
  • Galeão International Airport - secondary domestic and international hub
  • Santos Dumont Airport - major regional hub

Destinations

See this article: Varig destinations

• Brazil
  • Center-West Region - Anápolis, Brasília, Caldas Novas, Campo Grande, Cuiabá, Goiânia
  • North Region - Araguaína, Belém, Boa Vista, Carajás, Cruzeiro do Sul, Macapá, Marabá, Manaus, Porto Velho, Rio Branco, Santarém, Tefé, Trombetas, Xapari
  • Northern Region - Aracaju, Campina Grande, Ilhéus, João Pessoa, Maceió, Natal, Petrolina, Porto Seguro, Recife, Remédios (Fernando de Noronha Islands), Salvador, São Luís, Teresina, Vitória da Conquista
  • Southwest Region - Araxá, Belo Horizonte, Campinas, Montes Claros, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Vitória, Uberaba, Uberlândia
  • South Region - Caxias do Sul, Chapecó, Curitiba, Florianópolis, Foz do Iguaçu, Joinville, Londrina, Maringá, Navegantes, Passo Fundo, Porto Alegre, Santa Maria

• International: Amsterdam, Asuncíon, Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Cancún, Caracas, Copehagen, Córdoba, Frankfurt, La Paz, Lisbon, London, Los Angeles, Madri, Mexico City, Milan, Montevideo, Nagoya, New York, Paris, Punta del Este, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Tokyo

External link

• Varig Homepage (http://www.varig.com/)