Korean Air and Asiana Airlines have cleared the final major corporate step toward their merger after Asiana shareholders and Korean Air’s board approved the deal on the same day in Seoul. The transaction remains on track for registration on 17 December, moving South Korea’s largest airline combination closer to creating a single carrier with a far larger fleet and network footprint.
Asiana shareholders backed the merger by 99.3% of votes cast at an extraordinary meeting, with 81.86% of voting shares represented. Korean Air’s board separately ratified the transaction under Korea’s small-scale consolidation rules, allowing the process to advance after earlier regulatory approvals and securities-filing clearance.
The merger agreement was first signed in 2020 and has since moved through domestic and overseas competition reviews, including conditional transport-ministry approval in June and effectiveness of the securities filing in July. Asiana is due to be dissolved on the merger date, while Korean Air will issue new shares to Asiana shareholders at a ratio of 1:0.2736432, with the new stock scheduled to list in early January 2027. Integration work now shifts to operational and administrative tasks, including systems alignment, training, operating-certificate changes and mileage-program integration.