Korean Air and Asiana Merger Approaches Final Approval of EC...What's the task to solve?

[Anchor]
As early as this month, the European Commission and EC are expected to give final approval to the merger of Korean Air and Asiana Airlines.

The merger of the two airlines has raised expectations for the emergence of super-large airlines, but there are many challenges to solve, including mileage integration.

This is reporter Choi Doo-hee.

[Reporter]
The merger between Korean Air and Asiana Airlines has begun to count down.

This is because Korean Air is expected to receive final approval as early as this month as it has resolved conditional approval requirements issued by the European Commission and EC.

If the U.S. Department of Justice does not file a separate anti-trust lawsuit after the EC's final approval, Korean Air plans to transfer the company to a subsidiary through the acquisition of new shares before Dec. 20.

However, it takes an additional two years for the two airlines to complete the merger, including the organizational integration process.

If the merger goes smoothly, the number of aircraft will increase to about 227 and become one of the top 10 largest airlines in the world in terms of passenger transport performance.

It is expected that the global aviation market will be able to increase its competitiveness to the next level amid the trend of reorganizing into a market where only mega airlines survive.

Increasing the number of new destinations and adjusting the time slots for redundant routes could also broaden consumers' options.

However, there are not a few mountains to overcome in the merger process.

Korean Air says there is no artificial restructuring, but internal opposition must be minimized in the process of redeploying overlapping personnel.

[Hwang Yongsik/Professor of Business Administration at Sejong University: There is a part where the route was adjusted to get approval for mergers and acquisitions. I think the homework remains how to solve this surplus of manpower.

In addition, considerable labor is expected over what to do with the ratio of Korean Air and Asiana in the process of integrating the mileage system, which consumers are sensitive to.

I'm Choi Doohee of YTN.


video editing;Jung Kook-yoon

Design;Eun