Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index

Varig

Varig (Varig Brazilian Airlines) also known as Viação Aérea Rio-Grandense SA, is one of Brazil's leading international airlines, along with TAM. 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 uses the IATA designator RG.


Varig Boeing 777.

Varig's first plane was a nine passenger Atlantico 9, considered to be one of the most modern planes of the time. Its first employee, Ruben Berta, later turned into the airline's President and led the airline through great expansion and economic times. He left office only when he died, in 1966.

Varig's first flight went from Porto Alegre to Rio Grande (the Brazilian city) and it stopped in Pelotas.

Varig has had three crashes with fatalities since 1970:

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.

The airline flies many types, such as Boeing 737, Boeing 747 and Boeing 777. It is a member of the Star Alliance and has partnerships domestically with Nordeste airlines and Rio-Sul airlines.

Other facts of interest