Korean and Asiana merge, 10th global company is born
This news, just rebutted by the entire trade press, is the first of its kind since the [...]
Korean Air
This news, just rebutted by the entire trade press, is the first of its kind since the pandemic broke out. Since February, in fact, we have only read about bankruptcies and public bailouts of airlines; now, however, we are faced with a move that is bound to have major repercussions on the balance of Southeast Asian carriers.
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The future Korean will retain its name and emerge stronger from this "merge & acquisition" procedure by succeeding against giants such as Singapore and Cathay.
Korean Air has launched a €1.5 billion takeover bid to take control of its competitor. As mentioned this move will upset the global airline rankings with the new Korean rightfully entering the top ten. This is great news for the alliance Sky team that sees its position strengthened in that area, bad news instead for the Star Alliance world of which Asiana is a member.
What changes for us Italians
For users it could be positive for Alitalia millemiglia users who could take advantage of the same alliance as the Italian company for travel to the East.
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Both airlines used to connect South Korea's capital with Milan Malpensa and Rome Fiumicino airports with a daily flight; given the decline in traffic, a reduction in operations is to be expected (the same route was also covered by Alitalia from Fiumicino before the outbreak of the pandemic).
The new carrier's fleet
It should result, net of divestments, in a company with more than 250 aircraft: With 16 A380s in the fleet, it would become the 3rd largest operator world of this aircraft, although it can be expected that the first divestments will see the Airbus giant among those involved.
In addition, the fleet consists of 747s, 777s, 787s, A330s, A350-900s, and many are the orders both companies had from Boeing and Airbus, it will have to be seen if and how plans will be rescheduled.
