Korean Air Sets December 2026 Date To Fully Absorb Asiana Airlines

Four score and 7 years ago, Korean Air and Asiana Airlines planned to merge. After a drawn-out process, the final approval came in December 2024, announcing that Korean Air will acquire a 63.88% stake in Asiana Airlines.

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

Since the original announcement, the plan for merging the 2 airlines’ rewards programs was rejected, and a new plan was introduced. Now, there’s another major update: Korean Air and Asiana have officially approved the merger agreement and set a formal merger date for late 2026.

Here’s what you should know about the latest news on the 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. In late 2024, they finally got 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 longer, they’ve now approved a formal merger agreement that will see Korean Air fully absorb Asiana Airlines on December 17, 2026.

That means Asiana will eventually disappear as a standalone airline and leave Star Alliance in the process. To complete the deal, Korean Air paid roughly $559 million to Asiana to acquire over 131 million of its shares.

Once complete, Korean Air will take over all of Asiana’s assets, liabilities, personnel, and operations.. 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 held an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders on January 16, 2025, to appoint a new board nominated by Korean Air.

Moving forward, Korean Air plans to complete its integration of Asiana by standardizing aircraft operations, safety systems, crew training, and airport operations across the combined airline. The carrier is also planning investments in lounge upgrades, catering improvements, maintenance facilities near Incheon International Airport, and expanded training infrastructure to support the larger airline.

However, the original plan outlined below has run into another round of problems. Back in June, South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) rejected the initial proposal, citing a lack of transparency. Korean submitted an updated plan in September, and now the FTC has rejected the revised plan. It’s also fined the airlines a combined $4.4 million. Korean Air says it’s still working with regulators on finalizing the loyalty program integration.

The FTC wasn’t concerned about the miles conversion rates (discussed below) but chastised the airlines for failing to honor a promise to maintain at least 90% of their 2019 route capacity and for lacking a realistic plan to ensure award space and elite upgrade availability exist for customers going forward.

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.

Reward Program Merger Details

Back in June, Korean Air proposed a subpar conversion rate for absorbing Asiana miles into Korean’s SKYPASS program, and that caused obstacles that were later overcome.

For elite tiers, Asiana Club members will move into SKYPASS tiers as follows:

Additionally, Asiana Club members will be able to keep redeeming their miles using the award chart that was in place on December 31, 2024, and they can do so for another 10 years.

Asiana Club members also have the option to move their miles into SKYPASS at a 1:1 ratio — though miles received from partner transactions will be converted at a 1:0.82 ratio (820 miles received for every 1,000 miles sent)

Final Thoughts

The merger between Korean Air and Asiana Airlines has now entered its final stretch, with the airlines officially setting December 17, 2026, as the date Korean Air will fully absorb Asiana. While travelers will still see both airlines operating separately for a while longer, Asiana will eventually disappear as a standalone carrier and leave Star Alliance in the process.

Additionally, we now know what elite tiers Asiana Club members will receive in SKYPASS, including the creation of a new tier in the process. Asiana miles can be moved to SKYPASS or continue to be redeemed using the December 2024 award chart for another 10 years, which remains one of the more consumer-friendly aspects of the merger.

However, the airlines and their loyalty programs have continued running into obstacles with regulators, as South Korea’s FTC is still pushing for stronger customer protections tied to award availability, upgrades, and route capacity before fully signing off on the loyalty program integration.