Korean Air and Asiana Airlines merger delayed by two years
It's going to be a few more years until Korean Air lands on the world's largest airlines list.
The carrier's merger with Asiana Airlines just hit a snag during a regulatory review process. Now, the updated timeline proposes an acquisition in 2022 and a full merger by 2024, as first reported by The Korean Times. The original plan was for the takeover to be completed by next year.
The holdup is reportedly due to getting antitrust approval from countries served by Korean. In a statement to TPG, Korean mentioned that it's pleased with the merger progress thus far and will continue to readjust the timeline as needed.
Korean Air has no outstanding issues with the acquisition and, so far, the integration is going as we expected. The post merger plan has been submitted to the Korea Development Bank (KDB), and we secured enough liquidity to finalize the acquisition through raising the necessary capital.
The acquisition can be finalized upon the merger approval from relevant countries, and we readjusted our timeline just in case some countries require more time to review and approve. The business integration plan involves every aspect of our operation and 2024 is what we are estimating finalize all aspects of the deal.
We assume the plan will be revised after KDB's review, and we will keep you posted.
In November 2020, Korean announced that it would acquire a nearly 64% stake in Asiana Airlines for 1.8 trillion won ($1.6 billion), South Korea's second-largest airline. When complete, the two carriers will combine to become the seventh-largest airline in the world.
Effectively eliminating a competitor isn't usually good news for travelers, especially in the case of Korean and Asiana, which both belong to two separate airline alliances.
Related: Best ways to redeem Chase points on Star Alliance airlines
If the deal goes through, it's widely expected that Asiana will leave the Star Alliance and move to SkyTeam, of which Korean was a founding member.
That means those looking to score sweet-spot redemptions with Star Alliance partner loyalty programs, like Air Canada Aeroplan and United MileagePlus will need to make those bookings before the takeover is complete.
With international travel still largely off-limits, the delayed merger will buy some more time for savvy travelers to make those redemptions.
TPG featured card
at Bilt's secure site
Terms & restrictions apply. See rates & fees.
| 1X | Choose to earn up to 1X points on rent and mortgage payments with no transaction fee |
| 2X | Earn 2X points + the option to earn 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday purchases |
Pros
- Choice to earn up to 1 Bilt Point per dollar spent on rent and mortgage payments
- Elevated everyday earnings with both Bilt Points and the option to earn Bilt Cash
- $400 Bilt Travel Portal hotel credit per year (up to $200 biannually)
- $200 Bilt Cash annually
- Priority Pass membership
- No foreign transaction fees
Cons
- Moderate annual fee
- Designed primarily for members seeking a premium, all-in-one card
- Earn points on housing with no transaction fee
- Choose to earn 4% back in Bilt Cash on everyday spend. Use Bilt Cash to unlock point earnings on rent and mortgage payments with no transaction fee, up to 1X.
- 2X points on everyday spend
- $400 Bilt Travel Hotel credit. Applied twice a year, as $200 statement credits, for qualifying Bilt Travel Portal hotel bookings.
- $200 Bilt Cash (awarded annually). At the end of each calendar year, any Bilt Cash balance over $100 will expire.
- Welcome bonus (subject to approval): 50,000 Bilt Points + Gold Status after spending $4,000 on everyday purchases in the first 90 days + $300 of Bilt Cash.
- Priority Pass ($469/year value). See Guide to Benefits.
- Bilt Point redemptions include airlines, hotels, future rent and mortgage payments, Lyft rides, statement credits, student loan balances, a down payment on a home, and more.