Home > Business > Industry

Asiana cedes five European flights to T'Way ahead of Korean Air merger

Published: 17 Mar. 2025, 19:04

CHO YONG-JUN
[email protected]

Asiana Airline aircraft at the Incheon International Airport in November 2024 [YONHAP]

Asiana Airlines will reduce its flights to Rome, Frankfurt and Paris in April in accordance with the European Commission’s fair competition requirements following its merger with Korean Air.

The airline’s flight from Incheon to Rome, currently operating five days a week, will fly only four times a week starting April 25, Asiana said Monday. Its route to Frankfurt will be slashed from seven flights to four starting April 30, and its Paris route will downsize from six to five on May 12. Budget carrier T'Way Air has taken over the canceled routes under the merged entity's agreement with the European Commission.

Asiana had already determined which flights were set for cancellation before its deal with Korean Air was complete on Dec. 12 and stopped selling tickets after that date. A spokesperson told the Korea JoongAng Daily that the official flight cancellation announcement had come three months later because “it took us time to coordinate.”

Those whose flights have been canceled who booked directly through Asiana will be rebooked on alternative flights on “other days,” the spokesperson said. Passengers can choose to keep their new flight, change to flights offered by certain additional airlines on a different day, or cancel for a full refund. Asiana will compensate customers for costs the flight changes incur, including extended hotel stays, and transportation, such as rental car bookings.

The airline recommended that impacted passengers who reserved through other airlines or third parties reach out to their respective booking platforms in a notice on its website.

The European Union’s European Commission conditionally approved Korean Air’s acquisition of Asiana Airlines in February on the terms that the carrier would sell Asiana's cargo business to Air Incheon and give up routes on which the two airlines overlapped — specifically those to Paris, Frankfurt, Rome and Barcelona, Spain — to budget carrier T'Way Air. At the time, Korean Air committed not to complete the merger until T'Way had started operating on the four overlapping routes, according to the commission's press release issued at the time.

Korean Air cut its flights to Barcelona on Sept. 1, 2024; T'Way took over the routes to Barcelona, Rome and Paris in August and to Frankfurt in October. It also sold Asiana's cargo business to Air Incheon for 470 billion won ($324 million).

The commission gave the merger final approval in November 2024, saying the airline had fulfilled its conditions.

BY CHO YONG-JUN [[email protected]]