Currently, Korean Air is still waiting for business combination approvals from the U.S., E.U. and Japan, countries where reporting is mandatory, and the final approval from the U.K., where reporting is arbitrary.
MOFCOM has demanded that the merged Korean Air-Asiana entity reduce its market share due to competition concerns, to which Korean Air has submitted remedies proposing to transfer slots to any new airlines wishing to start air services on nine routes where both Korean Air and Asiana Airlines operate.
Korean Air expects MOFCOM’s approval of the business combination to play a positive role in the review process of the remaining competition authorities. The airline submitted business combination reports to the nine countries that require reporting on January 14, 2021.
The Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China (MOFCOM) announced its approval of Korean Air’s business combination with Asiana Airlines on December 26.
The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has accepted remedies submitted by Korean Air but will gather opinions from the market before their official approval. The Thailand Competition Commission announced that submitting a business combination report was unnecessary.
Korean Air will continue to cooperate closely with the remaining competition authorities to ensure the review process is completed as soon as possible. The Philippines has confirmed that the business combination report was not required. From countries where reporting is arbitrary, Korean Air has received clearance from Singapore, Malaysia and Australia.
Out of these nine countries, Korean Air has received approval from China, Korea, Turkey, Taiwan and Vietnam. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) proposed five of the nine routes earlier this year, and MOFCOM has advised an additional four routes.
Written by: William Trevan
