On Monday morning, Hanjin Group, owner of South Korea’s flag carrier Korean Air, announced that it will pay around $ 1.6 billion to take over rival carrier Asiana Airlines.
According to Korean Air, when it becomes Asiana’s largest shareholder with a 63.9% stake, the merged carrier will be one of the 10 largest airlines in the world.
Korean Air thinks the merger will also be a great momentum to restructure and stabilize the Korean aviation market, which is suffering from the crisis due to COVID-19.
At the end of last year, it was announced that HDC Hyundai Developer had agreed to purchase Asiana, but the deal was canceled in September after the pandemic hit the aviation industry.
Asiana announced a loss of approximately $ 240 million in the first six months of this year, while the airline’s debts are said to be $ 10.4 billion.
This post was published on 17 November 2020 12:31 am