VARIG (acronym for Viação Aérea RIo-Grandense, Rio Grandean Airways) was the first airline registrated in Brazil. The company was founded on 7 May 1927, in Porto Alegre, by Otto Ernst Meyer-Labastille, a German aviator, who immigrated to Brazil in 1921. From 1965 until 1990, it was Brazil's leading airline and virtually its only international one. From 1997 to 2007, Varig was a member of the Star Alliance. In 2005, Varig went into restructuring, and in 2006 it was split into two companies. First from it – Flex Linhas Aéreas, informally known as "old" Varig, was heir to the original airline – now defunct. And second one – "new" Varig, is a new company, fully integrated into Gol Airlines.