Korean Air to submit new merger plan to ease antitrust concerns

The high-profile merger between South Korea’s top two air carriers is likely to meet a watershed moment later this month as Korean Air is reportedly scheduled to submit an aggressively revised version of its acquisition proposal for Asiana Airlines to the European Commission to effectively ease the regulator’s antitrust concerns. According to local reports Tuesday, Korean Air’s revised proposal will include the company's sale of the entirety of Asiana Airlines' cargo transportation business to a competing airline. The remedied proposal is also rumored to include Korean Air's decision to give up its extra airport slots, or its rights to land and take off at specific times, to foreign airlines. The four airport slots in question reportedly include Korean Air and Asiana's routine connections from Incheon to Frankfurt, Paris, Rome and Barcelona. Korean Air’s revision to its proposal plan initially submitted to the EC comes as the company aims to address the European Union antitrust regulators' concern that the merged unit could possibly dominate passenger and cargo flights connecting Korea to European cities. In June, Korean Air announced it has asked the EC for more time to prepare changes to its acquisition plan so that it could address its concerns regarding the merged unit's possible monopolization of flights connecting Korea to Europe. The EC has since announced that it will accept Korean Air’s request, and temporarily suspend their investigation into Korean Air's proposed acquisition of Asiana. Regarding the rumors of Korean Air revising its proposal plan, however, industry watchers say the revised plan, if passed by EU, will reap little benefit for both companies and hurt national competitiveness in the international aviation industry -- as the plan involves the two airlines giving up some of their most profitable businesses.<br/>