Airline first airline established in the Americas), Argentina with Aerolineas Argentinas, Chile with LAN Chile (today LATAM Airlines), Brazil with Varig, Dominican Republic with Dominicana de Aviación, Mexico with Mexicana de Aviación, Trinidad and Tobago with BWIA West Indies Airways (today Caribbean Airlines), Venezuela with Aeropostal, Puerto Rico with Puertorriquena; and TACA based in El Salvador and representing several airlines of Central America (Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua). All the previous airlines started regular operations well before World War II. Puerto Rican commercial airlines such as Prinair, Oceanair, Fina Air and Vieques Air Link came much after the second world
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