Brazilian airline Varig, which recently escaped bankruptcy, will buy 16 planes as soon as it is allowed to resume operations and will change its name to Nordeste, a senior executive said on Thursday.

Joao Luiz Bernes de Souza, chief executive of the VarigLog air cargo business that bought Varig in July for USD$24 million, said Varig's fleet would jump from 15 planes to 31 once it gets a green light from authorities.

"Right after we get the certification, we will add 16 aircraft to our fleet," he said at an airline industry event in Mexico's beach resort of Cancun. "We are building a new Varig. We are hiring people... The name will be Nordeste," he said.

Another company executive had said in August that Varig should expand its fleet to 45 aircraft by the end of 2006.

Varig was once Latin America's largest carrier but fell to the brink of bankruptcy earlier this year, burdened by massive debts and unable to pay for fuel or airport fees.

A decade ago, it had nearly half of Brazil's aviation market but it has since lost out to more cost-efficient rivals such as TAM Linhas Aereas and Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes. Varig's market share had plummeted to 10.5 percent by June of this year.