Asiana Airlines Cargo To Be Sold

Several things have needed to change as part of Asiana Airlines and Korean Air’s attempts to win approval to merge.

Arguably, one of the larger parts was the sale of Asiana Airlines Cargo, the brand’s freight division, which was requested to be offloaded.

The request came from the EU, which believed this element needed to be removed to prevent the prospective combined company from obtaining higher market share levels and killing off competition.

As a result, the airlines hoping to merge needed to offload the division, which has now been agreed with Asiana Airlines Cargo to be sold to Air Incehon for USD 342 million.

Korean Air confirmed it had sold the division in a release identifying the smaller South Korean company that strictly focuses on cargo operations as the optimal location.

The purchase and, thus, the transfer will see the fleet, customers, staff, and many other elements that make up the division essentially handed over to Air Incheon.

This is all part of Korean Air’s strong ambitions to take over Asiana Airlines and create a mega airline completely, but to do that, competition watchdogs have requested several things to take place.

These requests are part of regulators’ attempts worldwide to ensure that once a deal is formally finalised and the integration moves along, competitors and consumers won’t be impacted by less competition or higher airfares.

The EU’s request centred around the freight division, which needed to be removed. All regulators, excluding the US, have approved the merger, which is now the last on the list.

Permitting no major hiccups, Korean Air has stated publicly that it expects a decision from the US regarding its prospective merger to arrive in the coming months.

This final decision will be instrumental in officially green-lighting the deal, allowing the pair to continue working on a positive trajectory to complete the integration, which will involve navigating many challenging scenarios, such as what to do with staff, fleet, and more.