Varig Natal along the Brazilian coast and was thus better prepared to compete with Panair do Brasil and Cruzeiro do Sul. In 1949 the Brazilian government granted to Varig the concession to fly to the United States, since the original airline which had the concession, Cruzeiro do Sul, was unable to operate the services. The inaugural flight between Rio de Janeiro-Galeão and New York-Idllwild (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) was on . The services were operated by three new Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellations. On flights to Buenos Aires using Curtiss C-46s started. In January 1956 Varig served 55 cities
Indigo Airlines (American airline) approval and was granted a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity. In its initial operations the company distributed a request for proposal to several aerospace manufacturers for a new regional business jet to eventually replace its initial aircraft. The Brazilian Embraer Legacy was a customized business jet version of the Embraer regional airline aircraft. Indigo was the first U.S. certified commercial operator of the Legacy and launched service with the then new stage 4 aircraft in 2003 in a 16-seat all business-class service. Former senior American Airlines executive and American Eagle President Peter Pappas was hired as manager, during the