Star Alliance

Star Alliance is the world's first and largest airline alliance. Founded in 1997, its name and emblem represent the five founding airlines, Air Canada, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines System, Thai Airways International, and United Airlines. Star Alliance has since grown considerably and now has 25 member airlines . Another airline is expected to become a full member by the end of 2009, and with three more expected to become members in 2010. Star... more

Star Alliance is the world's first and largest airline alliance. Founded in 1997, its name and emblem represent the five founding airlines, Air Canada, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines System, Thai Airways International, and United Airlines. Star Alliance has since grown considerably and now has 25 member airlines . Another airline is expected to become a full member by the end of 2009, and with three more expected to become members in 2010. Star Alliance is headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Codeshare flights between these airlines are, for the most part, seamless. This tight cooperation led to suspicions of anti-competitive behavior, and the alliance was investigated by the European Union as a virtual merger of its members. Indeed, some speculated that if government regulations were relaxed, the members would merge into a single corporation, although no evidence has yet materialized. Prior to Star Alliance, Northwest Airlines and KLM were operating together as the... less