Proposed merger of Korean Air and Asiana Airlines
In November 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, the South Korean Government officially announced that Korean Air will acquire Asiana Airlines.[1] Korea Development Bank, a state-owned bank, will provide 800 billion won to Hanjin Group to help finance the merger between the airlines.[1] The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of the Republic of Korea will integrate subsidiaries Air Busan, Air Seoul and Jin Air to form a combined low-cost carrier which will focus on regional airports in Korea.[2]
After the merger is approved and completed, Asiana Airlines could become member of SkyTeam.[3]
Approval status
In March 2021, KAL announced the merger with Asiana Airlines will be delayed as foreign authorities have not approved the deal. Due to the delay, Asiana Airlines will be operated as a subsidiary in which the airline's operations, IT, and other systems will be operated by Korean Air until 2024.[4][5]
Since 9 September, Turkey has approved the antitrust deal. Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam have approved the merger.[6][7] On June 30, it is reported that the post-merger plans between two airlines were been finalized and approved by Korea Development Bank.[8][9][10] Korea Fair Trade Commission approved the merger on 22 February 2022, under condition of the airline must give up some of their airport slots and transportation rights of certain regions.[11][12][13]
As of 2022, other essential countries including China, Japan, and the United States have not given their approval.[14]
And for non-essential countries, in June 2021, the Philippines is the first country to approve.[15] On September, Malaysian authority also approved on the antitrust deal, thus Malaysia officially joined Turkey on the list of countries that approved the antitrust deal between the two airlines.[16][17]
References
- ^ a b "대한항공·아시아나 통합 국적항공사 출범…산은 8천억 투입" (in Korean). Yonhap News Agency. 16 November 2020. Archived from the original on February 14, 2021. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
- ^ "진에어·에어서울·에어부산 통합... 정부 "지방공항 기반해 운영"" (in Korean). Chosun Biz. 16 November 2020. Archived from the original on February 14, 2021. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
- ^ "Korean Air delays merger of Asiana to 2024". Korea Times. 30 March 2021.
- ^ "대한항공 "아시아나 인수 2년 후 완전통합"" (in Korean). Chosun Ilbo. 31 March 2021.
- ^ "아시아나, 대한항공 자회사 편입후 2년간 독립 운영" (in Korean). Munhwa Ilbo. 31 March 2021.
- ^ "대한항공-아시아나 기업결합심사, 태국서 승인…터키 이후 3개월만" (in Korean). EBN. 31 May 2021.
- ^ "베트남, 대한항공-아시아나 기업결합 승인" (in Korean). Financial News. 16 November 2021.
- ^ Asia, T. T. G. "Korean Air-Asiana merger cleared for take-off | TTG Asia". www.ttgasia.com. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
- ^ Chua2021-06-30T08:50:00+01:00, Alfred. "Korean Air on track for Asiana acquisition". Flight Global. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Korean Air's Merger Plan With Asiana Airlines Has Been Finalized". Simple Flying. 2021-06-30. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
- ^ Chua2022-02-22T05:06:00+00:00, Alfred. "South Korea competition watchdog conditionally approves Korean Air-Asiana merger". Flight Global. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "S Korea gives conditional nod to Korean Air's Asiana Airlines purchase". CNA. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
- ^ Yoo, Hong (2022-02-22). "FTC grants conditional approval for Korean Air-Asiana merger over monopoly concern". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
- ^ "Korean Air delays merger of Asiana to 2024". koreatimes. 2021-03-29. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
- ^ "대한항공, 최근 태국 및 필리핀 경쟁당국 기업결합심의 절차 종결" (in Korean). CBC News. 2 June 2021.
- ^ "Mavcom approves Korean Air-Asiana Airlines merger in Malaysia's first competition-related merger case". The Edge Markets. 2021-09-09. Retrieved 2021-09-16.
- ^ Sunbiz. "Mavcom greenlights Korean Air-Asiana merger". www.thesundaily.my. Retrieved 2021-09-16.