varig

Varig (Varig Brazilian Airlines) also known as ''Viao Area 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 757, Boeing 767, Boeing 777 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, Cte d'Ivoire, 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). 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.