Deutsche Lufthansa AG, trading as the Lufthansa Group, is a German aviation group. Its major and founding subsidiary airline Lufthansa Airlines, branded as Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. It ranks second in Europe by passengers carried, as well as largest in Europe and fourth largest in the world by revenue. Lufthansa Airlines is also one of the five founding members of Star Alliance, which is the world's largest airline alliance, formed in 1997. Lufthansa was founded in 1953 and commenced operations in April 1955. Besides operating flights under its own brand Lufthansa Airlines, the Lufthansa Group also owns several other airlines, including Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Discover Airlines, Eurowings, ITA Airways and Swiss International Air Lines. The group also owns several aviation-related companies, including Global Load Control, Lufthansa Consulting, Lufthansa Flight Training, Lufthansa Systems and Lufthansa Technik. The company was founded as Aktiengesellschaft für Luftverkehrsbedarf on 6 January 1953 by staff of the former Deutsche Luft Hansa, Germany's national airline founded in 1926. Wikipedia