Lufthansa is the flag carrier and largest German airline which, when combined with its subsidiaries, is the second-largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. The airline is one of the five founding members of Star Alliance, the world's largest airline alliance, formed in 1997. Besides its own services, and owning subsidiary passenger airlines Austrian Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines, Brussels Airlines, and Eurowings, Deutsche Lufthansa AG owns several aviation-related companies, such as Lufthansa Technik and LSG Sky Chefs, as part of the Lufthansa Group.