Lufthansa is the largest German airline and, when combined with its subsidiaries, also the largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. The name of the company is derived from the German word Luft "air" and Hansa, the Hanseatic League. Lufthansa 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 including Germanwings (referred to in English by Lufthansa as its Passenger Airline Group), Deutsche Lufthansa AG owns several aviation-related companies, such as Lufthansa Technik and LSG Sky Chefs, as part of the Lufthansa Group. In total, the group has over 700 aircraft, making it one of the largest airline fleets in the world. Lufthansa is Europe’s first 5-star airline and has thus joined the list of the world’s ten best premium airlines.