Reuters:
A NEW York State Supreme Court on Friday ordered troubled Brazilian airline Varig to turn over a number of aircraft to various plaintiffs including Boeing Co.
An injunction called for Varig, which declared bankruptcy a year ago, to stop operating the aircraft on Monday and to return them to the plaintiffs by June 16. The injunction also called for Varig's non-operating aircraft to be returned to owners by July 1.
A Boeing spokesman said late Friday that it had 10 airplanes at the airline but the court order listed seven planes. Earlier Brazilian news reports put the airplane total at seven.
Founded in 1927, Varig short for Viacao Aerea Rio-Grandense has long been one of Brazil's best-known companies globally. But it has been struggling for years, racking up debt and losing market share to more cost-efficient rivals like TAM and Gol.
Brazilian Judge Luiz Roberto Ayoub had said he would decide on Friday whether to authorise the sale of Varig, which has been operating under bankruptcy protection for the last year.
An earlier round of bidding failed to produce an offer that met the court's minimum price of $860 million, triggering the second auction process without a minimum bid requirement.
A decade ago, Varig controlled nearly 50 per cent of Brazil's aviation market. Today its market share has dwindled to 16.5 per cent.
