Brazilian Varig Airline, the bankrupt company which has become a subsidiary of Gol after being for decades Brazil's flag airline carrier, has just started once again to fly daily from São Paulo, Brazil, to Paris and Rome. A new Boeing 767-300ER aircraft, recently incorporated into the company's fleet, will service the route.
Flights will leave from Guarulhos International Airport for Rome's Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport, making one stop at Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport.
"Launching this new route is another important step in our expansion plans," says Lincoln Amano, Varig's commercial director.
"The Company currently operates two daily flights to Germany; with the addition of the São Paulo-Paris-Rome route, we are further increasing the number of flights connecting South America and Europe."Â
In addition to Frankfurt, Germany, Varig currently offers international service to Bogota, Colombia; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Caracas, Venezuela.
France and Italy are two of the most popular destinations for tourists from around the world. According to the World Tourism Organization (WTO), both rank among the top 10 most popular countries for Brazilian tourists.
This new route will also serve the increasing demand for Europeans looking to travel to Brazil: approximately 275,000 French tourists traveled to Brazil in 2006, while nearly 300,000 Italians visited the country over the same period.
  Origin         Destination  Frequency  Departure*    Arrival*
 Sao Paulo          Paris       Daily     11:59 PM     4:20 PM
   Paris          Sao Paulo     Daily     11:50 PM     6:50 AM
 Sao Paulo          Rome        Daily     11:59 PM     7:15 PM
   Rome           Sao Paulo     Daily      8:50 PM     6:50 AM
   Paris            Rome        Daily      5:30 PM     7:15 PM
   Rome             Paris       Daily      8:50 PM    10:45 PM
 *Local time