Star Alliance is the world's first and largest airline alliance. Its headquarters are in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It was founded in 1999 by five airlines: Scandinavian Airlines, Thai Airways International, Air Canada, Lufthansa, and United Airlines. Varig Brazilian Airlines was the first airline to join, in 1997. In 2013, the alliance now has 28 member airlines with more than 21,100 daily departures combined. These flights fly to 1,329 airports in more than 150 countries, carrying 678.7 million passengers.