VRG Linhas Aéreas S.A., operating as VARIG (an acronym for Viação Aérea RIo Grandense), is the Brazilian flag carrier airline owned by Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes (parent company of Gol Transportes Aéreos) based in São Paulo, Brazil. From the 1960s until the mid-2000s, it was Brazil's leading international airline.