Update as of July 31, 2006, 12:00pm PDT

Varig Logistica SA, Brazil's largest air cargo company and former subsidiary of Varig Airlines, bought the bankrupt Varig Airlines on Thursday, July 20, and temporarily cancelled all flights except its most popular route between Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, saying it would announce a revised flight schedule on Monday, July 24 for 11 international and 12 domestic routes beginning July 28. However, on July 23, as reported by The International Herald Tribune, “the Brazilian aviation agency has vetoed a plan by Varig, the country's struggling airline, to suspend most flights and has ordered the company to fly all its assigned routes. Varig must fly its five assigned national routes and five international routes, said Milton Zuanazz, president of the Civil Aeronautics Agency, according to a government news service, Agência Brasil.”

In fact, what many ISMB delegates holding Varig tickets purchased either directly through Varig Airlines or through online ticket services such as Expedia.com are experiencing is that their flights are cancelled as of very recently and other carriers may not be able to accommodate them for the same travel dates at the same fares. For delegates holding tickets of Star Alliance carriers (i.e., United, Lufthansa, etc.) that were booked onto Varig through a code share system, those carriers are generally able to reaccommodate them through either alternate routes or by flying their own planes for the ticketed flights. Reaccommodations are challenging, however, due to limited seats on connections from Sao Paulo to Fortaleza. Tam and Gol service the majority of flights within Brazil to Fortaleza (Tam also has international flights originating in New York (JFK), Miami, and Paris), and open seats may require upwards of a 12 hour layover at the Sao Paulo airport to catch a late night flight arriving into Fortaleza at approximately 3:00am, as an example. But our research on this day (July 31) has indicated this is still achievable and the airlines have been as cooperative as possible.

If you have a ticket to Fortaleza on Varig please contact your travel agent immediately to check the status of your flights and to rebook on another carrier if allowed at this time. If you are booked on a code share Varig flight through a Star Alliance member airline please be insistent if the Star Alliance member tells you all they can do is refund your money. It requires an extra effort on their part, but they can still get you all the way to Fortaleza through the combination of your persistence and their diligence in reaccommodating your needs.

As a reassurance, ISMB 2006 will not be cancelled due to the situation with Varig airlines. We have a very strong program in place and delegates from all over the world have already begun arriving on airlines as varied as their points of origin. We look forward to counting you among them!

For the latest news on Varig as it develops, please do a Google search of Varig Airlines, or see the recent articles below:
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2006/07/30/2003321077
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/07/23/news/travel24.php