Delivery time2024-01-12 23:23
It appears that the corrective action plan for ‘Asiana cargo sale’ has been accepted… The official announcement is expected next month.
Korean Air-Asiana merger
[연합뉴스 자료사진]
(Brussels, Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Lim Seong-ho, Correspondent Bit-na Jeong = Reuters reported on the 12th (local time) that the European Union (EU) competition authority plans to give final approval to the business combination of Korean Air and Asiana Airlines.
The official announcement is expected to be made as early as the end of this month or next month, and once confirmed, Korean Air will only be left with the final judgment of the US and Japanese competition authorities until the business combination is completed.
Two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that this decision follows Korean Air’s submission to the European Commission of corrective measures, including the sale of Asiana’s cargo business and the return of slots (number of airport takeoffs and landings) on routes to four European cities.
Considering these explanations, it appears that a conditional approval decision will be made on the premise of implementing the corrective action plan.
A local source told Yonhap News, “As far as I know, the EU Competition Directorate is currently drafting a decision containing the results of the business combination review.”
Once a draft decision is prepared, a conclusion will be reached at an executive committee meeting after collecting opinions from relevant directorates and consulting with competition authorities from 27 member countries.
Since the review deadline originally set by the EU was February 14, considering the remaining procedures, it is expected that it will take several more weeks until the EU’s official announcement.
A Korean Air official said, “We have not yet officially received any issues from the executive committee, but we will do our best until final approval.”
The merger of the two airlines, which began in earnest with the Korea Development Bank’s announcement of a merger in November 2020, seemed to be going smoothly as Korean Air received approval from 11 of the 14 countries that reported the business combination early last year, excluding the EU, the United States, and Japan.
However, in May of last year, the EU ran into an unexpected difficulty when it issued a review report expressing concerns that competition in passenger and cargo transportation on European routes could be reduced in the event of a merger.
In response, Korean Air took a gamble by selling its cargo business, which accounts for more than 20% of Asiana’s sales, to overcome the EU screening threshold.
In November last year, the Asiana Airlines board of directors approved a plan to separate and sell the cargo business, and Korean Air submitted a corrective action plan to the executive committee early last month focusing on the sale of the cargo business.
It is reported that four companies, including Air Premia, Eastar Jet, Air Incheon, and Jeju Air, have submitted letters of intent (LOI) to acquire Asiana’s cargo business division.
It is strongly discussed that T’way Air will take over the transportation rights for the four European routes included in the corrective action plan.
Report via KakaoTalk okjebo
<저작권자(c) 연합뉴스,
Unauthorized reproduction/redistribution, AI learning and use prohibited>
2024/01/12 23:23 Sent
2024-01-12 14:23:13
#plans #approve #Korean #AirAsiana #merger #comprehensive
