The merger of Korean Air and Asiana Airlines have cleared a major hurdle with a nod of approval from China’s antitrust regulator. The Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China (MOFCOM) recently announced its approval of Korean Air’s merger with Asiana Airlines after some corrective measures.
As per the reports, the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China raised questions about the competition on nine air routes between the two countries, including Incheon to Tianjin, Beijing, Shanghai, and Changsha.
To address this concern, 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. This reply seems to have satisfied the Chinese authorities.
Out of the above nine routes, five were proposed by the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) while the other four are advised by MOFCOM.
It has been almost two years since Korean Air is planning to acquire Asiana Airlines. So far, the acquisition has received approval from countries like Australia, South Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Turkey, Taiwan, Malaysia, China, and the Philippines.
However, the merger is awaiting a nod of approval from some of the major markets like US, EU and Japan and a final approval from UK.
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has accepted remedies submitted by Korean Air, but will gather opinions from the market before giving their official approval.