Korean Air Acquires Majority Stake in Asiana Airlines — What To Know About the Merger

Updated: December 12, 2024, 12:46pm CST

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Korean Air Acquiring Majority Stake in Asiana Airlines
Changes to Low-Cost Subsidiaries of Korean and Asiana
Final Thoughts

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Four score and 7 years ago, Korean Air and Asiana Airlines planned to merge. After a drawn-out process, the final approval is here, and Korean Air is acquiring a 63.88% stake in Asiana Airlines.

There’s a lot to unpack in this news, as a Star Alliance airline will be absorbed into a SkyTeam airline, there will be reshuffling with each airline’s low-cost brands, and concessions were made along the way.

Here’s what you should know about the now-approved merger between the 2 biggest airlines in South Korea.

Korean Air Acquiring Majority Stake in Asiana Airlines

Korean Air is a member of SkyTeam, while Asiana Airlines is a member of Star Alliance. These 2 airlines announced plans to merge in late 2020. Now, as 2024 draws to a close, they have all the government regulatory approvals needed to proceed with the merger — which required over a dozen government agencies to sign off.

While the airlines will continue to operate independently for a while, they will eventually become a single carrier, with Asiana merging into Korean. That means Asiana will leave Star Alliance. To complete the deal, Korean paid roughly $559 million to Asiana to acquire over 131 million of its shares.

Asiana Airlines A380 First Class Flat bed - Cherag Dubash — Time will tell what will become of Asiana’s first class suites. Image Credit: Cherag Dubash

Asiana will hold an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders on January 16, 2025, to appoint a new board nominated by Korean.

Moving forward, Korean plans to complete its integration of Asiana within 2 years, including network optimization, reduction of route redundancy, launching new routes, and investing in new safety measures. There are no plans for restructuring the airlines’ workforce at this time, though employees with overlapping functions may be moved to other areas as the merger progresses.

Korean Air will submit plans for its SKYPASS program to the Korea Fair Trade Commission by June 2025 and then will communicate any changes to program members after regulatory review.

Changes to Low-Cost Subsidiaries of Korean and Asiana

Along with Asiana leaving Star Alliance and eventually disappearing as an airline, merged into Korean, the airlines’ low-cost subsidiaries will also merge. Jin Air, Korean’s subsidy, will absorb Asiana’s subsidiaries, which are Air Busan and Air Seoul.

Moreover, Korean Air’s partnerships — such as its codeshare agreement with Delta Air Lines — will continue, while Asiana’s won’t.

Final Thoughts

The merger between Korean Air and Asiana Airlines will finally go forward now that it has all the signatures it needs. The airlines will eventually merge, though you’ll still see business as usual for a little while from each carrier. Star Alliance will lose an airline in the process, and the airlines will focus on expanding their route network while reducing redundancy.

Any changes to Korean’s SKYPASS program have yet to be announced and will likely not be made until mid-2025.