Korean Air and Asiana Merger Confirmed

Korean Air has satisfied all conditions set by the European Union competition authority for its merger with Asiana Airlines.

The European Commission (EC) announced on November 28 that it has concluded its review after confirming Korean Air's fulfillment of all required conditions for the merger with Asiana Airlines.

In February 2024, the EC granted conditional approval subject to two key requirements: ensuring stable operations of a remedy carrier on four overlapping European routes (Barcelona, Frankfurt, Paris and Rome) and the divestiture of Asiana's freighter business.

Korean Air has designated T'way Air as the remedy carrier for the European routes, with commitments to provide operational support including aircraft, flight crew, and maintenance services.

A remedy carrier in an airline merger is a company that receives non-discriminatory access to a merging airline's content through indirect distribution channels. This allows consumers to compare offers from the merging airlines with those of competitors, which can help smaller carriers attract consumers

WHAT TO EXPECT?

The two brands will continue to operate separately for the time being but the plan is for the Asiana brand to disappear completely.

The two carriers also have low cost subsidiaries — Korean Air has Jin Air, and Asiana has Air Busan and Air Seoul. The plan is for Jin Air to absorb both Air Busan and Air Seoul. The resultant now large Jin Air will likely be bigger than Korea’s two other major low cost carriers, Jeju Air and T’Way Air.

The merger will also mean the combined airline will be part of SkyTeam Alliance and Asiana will leave Star Alliance.

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Korean Air has submitted the European Commission's final approval to the U.S. Department of Justice and plans to complete the transaction by December 2024.

About Korean Air

Serving the world for more than 55 years, Korean Air is one of the world's top 20 airlines, carrying more than 27 million passengers in 2019, pre-COVID. With its global hub at Incheon International Airport (ICN), the airline serves 114 cities in 40 countries on five continents with a modern fleet of 158 aircraft and over 20,000 professional employees.

Korean Air's outstanding performance and commitment to the highest level of safety and customer service has widely been recognized. The airline has been granted numerous awards including a 7-star airline rating from AirlineRatings.com as well as Air Transport World’s Airline of the Year and Cargo Operator of the Year awards.

Korean Air is a founding member of the SkyTeam airline alliance, and has grown into one of the largest transpacific airlines through its joint venture with Delta Air Lines.