The EU approved on Tuesday the takeover by South Korean flag-carrier Korean Air of smaller troubled rival airline Asiana, conditional on the firm fulfilling commitments to allay competition concerns.
Korean Air in late 2020 said it would purchase Asiana for $1.6 billion as the coronavirus pandemic grounded planes worldwide.
The European Commission, the bloc’s powerful antitrust authority, last year expressed concerns the takeover could restrict competition on routes between Europe and South Korea.
The commission also had concerns on the merger’s impact on cargo transport services between all of Europe and South Korea.
As a remedy, Korean Air will divest Asiana’s global cargo freighter business, the commission said in a statement.
Advertisement – Scroll to Continue
It added that the company also agreed to make “necessary assets” available to South Korean rival airline T’Way to start flight operations on the four overlap routes: Barcelona, Frankfurt, Paris and Rome.
These assets include slots, traffic rights and access to the required aircraft.
The commission also said Korean Air pledged it would not complete the merger until T’Way begun operating on the four overlap routes.
Advertisement – Scroll to Continue
“The Commission therefore concluded that the transaction, as modified by the commitments, would no longer raise competition concerns,” it said.
Korean Air in a statement said T’Way would “gradually” start operations on the four routes from the second half of 2024.
“With the EC approval secured, Korean Air continues to be focused on its discussions with the US competition authority to finalise the overall merger review processes as soon as possible,” the airline said.
raz/rmb/rl