Published : Feb. 9, 2022 - 15:54
Korean Air's Boeing 787-9 (Korean Air)
A merger between South Korea’s two biggest air carriers picked up pace on Wednesday after they received an unconditional approval from Singapore and as a final decision by the Fair Trade Commission approaches next week.
According to Korean Air, the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore concluded that the air carrier’s acquisition of Asiana Airlines will not infringe Singapore’s Competition Act.
The decision comes after the CCCS conducted a public consultation last July to seek feedback from aviation regulatory bodies, competitors, and customers, on Korean Air’s business consolidation.
Singapore’s competition authority concluded that the merger is unlikely to cause ticket prices to increase due to the significant pressure from existing competitors such as Singapore Airlines, and is unlikely to limit competition of cargo flights as Singapore already serves as a stop-over for many cargo flights.
The South Korean antitrust regulator also deliberated Wednesday to decide whether or not to approve Korean Air’s Asiana takeover, with the final decision expected to be announced within a few days.
The Fair Trade Commission is expected to grant a conditional approval. It previously said it will approve the business consolidation of Korean Air and Asiana Airlines under the condition that they will have to give up some of their airport slots and transportation rights of certain regions, to prevent monopoly in the country’s airline industry.
Even with the FTC’s approval, Korean Air will still need clearance from six other countries including the US, the EU, Japan, China, the UK, and Australia.
The EU and China are the two biggest obstacles in the airline’s bid as the EU’s regulatory body has been getting tougher over business mergers and China continues to be very conservative in airport slots and transportation rights distribution.
Prior to Singapore’s approval, Korean Air had received business acquisition approval from Turkey, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
“In order to finalize the acquisition process as early as possible, Korean Air will continue to proactively communicate and cooperate with the remaining regulatory bodies,” a Korean Air official said.
Korean Air, if merged with Asiana Airlines, is poised to become the world’s 10th-biggest airline.
By Hong Yoo (
yoohong@heraldcorp.com)