Korean Air will give a small South Korean carrier first crack at buying the freighter assets of Asiana Airlines, as required by EU regulators to approve a Korean-Asiana combination.
The European Union blessed a Korean Air takeover of Asiana Airlines under the condition that Asiana sells off its cargo airline.
U.S. and EU antitrust authorities are worried about reduced cargo competition from a merger between South Korea’s top airlines.
Korean Air’s cargo division is propping up the entire airline with passenger traffic still underwater.
There are too many airlines in Korea’s domestic market to survive, so the government engineered a merger between Korean Air and Asiana.
Asiana and Azul are taking cargo seriously in an unprecedented year for aviation. To capture greater cargo revenue, Asiana has replaced passenger seats with a novel freight pallet system. Azul is turning regional jets into cargo planes.
