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Asiana Airlines-Korean Air tie-up receives conditional approval from South Korea’s regulator
February 23rd 2022
South Korea's Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has given a conditional “green light” to Korean Air's (KAL) proposed takeover of local rival, Asiana Airlines. Read More » As part of the deal, the FTC said the two airlines will have to return some take-off and landing slots to airports to promote new entry into the market by other airlines. The merged entity will be prevented from raising fares or reducing capacity on certain routes and air traffic rights issued to the airlines for certain routes will have to be adjusted, the regulator ruled. FTC chair, Joh Sung-wook, said yesterday the approval conditions will help ease business uncertainty in the airline industry and prevent consumers from suffering damage due to the merger of South Korea's two largest airline groups. The tie-up is expected to set the tone for competition to be maintained or increased, Joh added. The FTC report also pointed out Asiana and KAL overlap on 119 routes. KAL announced its proposal to merge with its rival in November 2020. Subsequently, the airline said it hoped to achieve the union of South Korea's two largest airline groups by 2024. Completion of the deal still requires regulatory approval from at least six more jurisdictions worldwide. The FTC commenced its review of the proposed acquisition in January 2021.
