Varig to leave Star Alliance
 

http://www.staralliance.com/en/press...ralliance.html

In a nutshell:
With "new" Varig having been granted its operator's certificate (CHETA), "old" Varig no longer meets the conditions to be a member of Star Alliance.
The press release does not indicate whether "new" Varig is expected to join but it states that *A wants to increase presence in South America:
“Star Alliance continues to offer the most intercontinental flights serving more cities in Brazil than any other alliance and will continue to expand its services in this important and growing aviation market”

Hardly surprising I guess, but still a shame nonetheless.

...not much of Varig left anyway ...

that´s a pity, just when the new Varig is taking off and getting reliable services again. I guess there´s plenty of debts from the old Varig to prevent the new one to be part of *A. That leaves us here in Brazil without an airline that´s part of an alliance...:( Oh well, I guess it happens...Anyone think there´s any chance of either TAM or the new Varig join any of the existing alliances?

FR

Press reports in Brazil indicate that new VARIG is in talks to join Star Alliance as soon as possible, although nothing is certain yet. We'll have to wait and see.

I feel for the FF folks in Brazil.

However, I shed no tears for that old RG. Had my share of totally inacceptable stories with them along with pretty snoddy eomployee behaviour along the way.

It can only go up from here.

What happened when the new Ansett Australia came about? Didn't the *A stick with the new Ansett?

What new Ansett Australia? :confused:

TAM said only a few days ago that they had no intention of joining any alliances any time soon , of course that may have just been posturing

What kind of network does the new Varig have? Will its route network expand to the level of the old Varig, especially in South America? Losing Varig is no big deal for getting to and from South America but its a big problem for Star members who want to use rewards to fly within South America.

After the original Ansett owned by NZ collapsed some Aussies bought the remains and tried to resurect it for like 6 mths untill it collapsed again, hence the new "Ansett".

Right now it is nowhere near what it was a year ago. With the new permit though, it is expected to slowly expand again, hopefully growing back to be close to what it used to be. How slowly it will grow, and even IF it effectively will, remains to be seen. Right now Varig flies to Argentina and Venezuela, plus a bunch of cities on south and northeast Brazil. A few more are being added this January.

On another note, newspaper today reports that Varig will consider reapplying to Star or joining One World. Personally, I have a tough time buying the idea of Varig joining OW. Since nobody was quoted saying that, I think it´s just newspaper rubbish.

FR

Wonder if this is precursor of things to come at least in Europe. I don't want to believe this but i keep hearing that members are competing against each other.

If you're thinking of Tesna, that went nowhere. No flights. No alliance.

AFAIR * said Tesna will a member again.