Varig Varig VARIG (acronym for Viação Aérea RIo-Grandense, "Rio Grandean Airways") was the first airline founded in Brazil, in 1927. From 1965 until 1990, it was Brazil's leading airline, and virtually its only international one. In 2005, Varig went into judicial re-organisation, and in 2006 it was split into two companies – Flex Linhas Aéreas, informally known as "old" Varig, heir to the original airline and now defunct, and "new" Varig, a new company fully integrated into Gol Airlines. "Sociedade Anônima Empresa de Viação Aérea Rio-Grandense – VARIG" was the first national airline established in Brazil. It was founded on in
Transportes Aéreos Nacional were controlled by the same person, Linneu Gomes, the three airlines operated jointly and in practice it was Real which controlled the consortium. In its time, the Consortium dominated the passenger traffic on the triangle São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, the economic center of the country. In 1961 the three airlines of the consortium Real-Aerovias-Nacional were purchased by and merged into Varig. Accidents involving fatalities Transportes Aéreos Nacional Transportes Aéreos Nacional was a Brazilian airline founded in 1946. It was merged into Varig in 1961, when Varig bought the Consórcio Real-Aerovias-Nacional, of which Transportes Aéreos Nacional was one