As Germany's national flag carriet airline, Lufthansa is the biggest airline in Europe by numbers of passengers transported. Founded in 1926, the company name is made up of the German words for "Air" (Luft) and "League" (Hansa).The company's corporate headquarters is in Cologne but its main hubs are at Frankfurt International Airport in Frankfurt as well as the Flughafen Franz-Josef Strauss Airport in Munich.

Lufthansa is a member of Star Alliance, which is the biggest airline alliance in the world, founded in 1997 and comprising 18 member airlines. The Lufthansa Group operates more than 400 aircraft and employs nearly 100,000 people worldwide. In 2006, 53.4 million passengers flew with Lufthansa. Lufthansa has a network of more than 400 subsidiaries around the world including Swiss International Air Lines, Condor and Germanwings. The company operates in six key strategic areas including: passenger aviation, logistics, maintenance and repair , catering, holiday travel and international technology services.

Lufthansa Airbus A321-100 landing at London Heathrow Airport, England*.

From the UK, Lufthansa flights depart from Birmingham, Edinburgh, London City, Heathrow, Manchester and Newcastle airports and fly direct to major airports in Germany including Frankfurt, Cologne, Hamburg, Munich and Dusseldorf. From their base in Germany they fly to attractive destinations in Europe and America as well as the Middle and Far East.

*Photo Courtesy Wikipedia - Photo has been released to the public domain