Establishment events of Turkish Airlines originated in 1933 through the initial members who founded their operations based at Turkey's Atatürk Airport in Istanbul. The Star Alliance membership and four-star ranking define Turkish Airlines as an airline company. Turkish Airlines currently operates 296 aircraft between passenger and cargo planes after its initial fleet launch with only five aircraft. The global network of Turkish Airlines includes 280 flight destinations, which are distributed between 50 domestic stops and 230 international terminals.