Varig services to Varig. Year-long discussions to merge Varig with TAM Airlines ended unsuccessfully in 2004 and the same year Varig fell to third place in the Brazilian domestic market share, behind TAM and Gol. VARIG applied to the Commercial Bankruptcy and Reorganization Court in Rio de Janeiro on , for the commencement of "judicial reorganization" proceedings pursuant to the New Bankruptcy and Restructuring Law of Brazil (Law 11.101). The request was granted on 22 June 2005. VARIG continued to provide services despite its financial troubles. In order to raise funds, the Bankruptcy and Reorganization Court decided to sell two of
Airline Luftschiffahrts-Aktiengesellschaft I" was the world's first airline. It was founded on November 16, 1909, with government assistance, and operated airships manufactured by The Zeppelin Corporation. Its headquarters were in Frankfurt. The first fixed wing scheduled airline was started on January 1, 1914, from St. Petersburg, Florida, to Tampa, Florida. The four oldest non-dirigible airlines that still exist are Netherlands' KLM (1919), Colombia's Avianca (1919), Australia's Qantas (1921), and the Czech Republic's Czech Airlines (1923). The earliest fixed wing airline in Europe was Aircraft Transport and Travel, formed by George Holt Thomas in 1916; via a series of takeovers and mergers,