Former Hanjin Shipping boss sells entire Korean Air stake

EC sets mid-1Q24 deadline for Korean/Asiana merger decision

The European Commission (EC) has set February 19, 2024, as the tentative date for a decision on the merger of Korean Air (KE, Seoul Incheon) and Asiana Airlines (OZ, Seoul Incheon). The EC updated its website on December 6, adding the new deadline. At the same time, one of the EC's top competition bosses told media that the parties were progressing towards solving some of the more contentious merger aspects.

The proposed KRW1.8 trillion won (USD1.37 billion) merger will see Korean Air take a 63.9% stake in Asiana, taking its aircraft and other infrastructure and dissolving the brand. However, the EC has raised concerns about the merger's competitive impact on cargo and passenger routes between South Korea and European airports. In May, the EC sent Korean Air a statement of their objections to the proposed merger. Specifically, the commission had concerns on two fronts, including that the provision of passenger transport services may be reduced on four routes between South Korea and France, Germany, Italy, and Spain and that the provision of cargo transport...

Cargo downturn bites as US's Amerijet parks planes - report

Amerijet International (M6, Miami International) is mulling parking more planes as the cargo downturn continues and is grappling with the end of two large US Post contracts, according to a FreightWaves report.

The report says the airline is "paying the price" for expanding rapidly during the Covid-19 era cargo boom and now has surplus aircraft and high overheads without the necessary incoming revenue. Citing a late October internal memo from CEO Joe Mozzali, the report says the airline is considering pulling more aircraft out of service and deferring heavy maintenance.

According to ch-aviation fleets advanced data, Amerijet operates 22 aircraft, including six B757-200(PCF)s, three B767-200(BDSF)s, one B767-300ER(BCF), nine B767-300ER(BDSF)s, and three B767-300Fs, although six of these aircraft - three B757-200(PCF)s, one B767-200(BDSF), and two B767-300ER(BDSF)s are parked. The report notes that two of the parked B757-200(PCF)s, N19012S (msn 26244) and N818NH (msn 29311), are parked with do-not-use orders issued and the third, N286GB (msn 26245), is at San Antonio International for a tear-down inspection. One of the...

Editorial Comment: Updated to include comments from an Amerijet spokesperson - 08.12.2023 - 21:02 UTC

Korea's Jin Air delays delivery of two MAX 8s

Korea's Eastar Jet inks agreement to grow ops at Cheong Ju