Varig economic difficulty. This purchase not only made Varig the largest airline in South America but also granted rights to other cities in Latin America, Miami, the West Coast of the United States and to Japan. European services started on . Varig had been lobbying for European concessions for more than ten years, but after the sudden shutdown of Panair do Brasil by the Brazilian military government Varig was granted rights previously held by Panair and was ordered to immediately operate all scheduled services, including Panair's flight scheduled to depart that very night from Rio de Janeiro-Galeão to Recife, Lisbon, Paris-Orly
Varig airlines, on Varig acquired a controlling interest in Cruzeiro do Sul, which was in a particularly delicate economic situation. Cruzeiro do Sul was fully integrated into VARIG on . On , the Brazilian Federal Government created the Brazilian Integrated System of Regional Air Transportation and divided the country in five different regions, for which five newly created regional airlines received a concession to operate air services. Rio-Sul Serviços Aéreos Regionais S/A was the fourth of those regional airlines to be made operational and it was established by Varig in partnership with Top Táxi Aéreo, Bradesco Bank, and Atlântica-Boavista Insurance. Its