Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Friday that the Air Force had set up plans to help Varig passengers if the airlines goes bankrupt and other companies are unable to assist.

Varig has cancelled 70 percent of its overseas flights, but has maintained all its flights to Frankfurt, Germany, where many Brazilians are rooting for their national team at soccer's World Cup.

The Air Force said five aircraft were ready to fly overseas to help Brazilians in need of help.

Brazil's Foreign Ministry has also come up with a plan to help the 28,000 Varig passengers stranded overseas due to cancelled flights. Of these passengers, some 5,600 are in Germany.

A team is on watch constantly at Itamaraty Palace, the seat of the ministry, compiling all the information about stranded Brazilians abroad and forwarding the data to the National Civil Aviation Authority.

The ministry is currently focusing on finding seats for Varig passengers on other airlines, but is not offering financial support or accommodation except in the most extreme cases.

On Friday, a bankruptcy judge canceled the results of the airlines' auction, after the company's employees' group failed to pay the first required payment.

The future of the company, now operating under bankruptcy protection, will be decided next Tuesday and the court has three alternatives: bankruptcy, a new auction or analyzing the new buying proposition that was made after the auction.

Source: Xinhua