Korean Air, Asiana merger approved by Singapore

Korean Air and Asiana Airlines are set to merge, but they still need the approval of some countries to go ahead with the plan. Singapore reportedly sent its unconditional approval on Wednesday; thus, the deal took another step closer to the finalization of the acquisition.

The approval was received just a week before the Korean Fair Trade Commission announced its final decision for the Korean Air and Asiana merger, two of the country's biggest air carriers. The country's antitrust regulator will decide whether or not to approve the acquisition, and the result is expected in a few days.

But Even with the KFTC's approval, Korean Air still needs to receive clearance from six other nations, and these are the U.K., Japan, the U.S., Australia, the EU, and China. Before Singapore gave its decision, the merger had already received a go-ahead from the Philippines, Turkey, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand. And Vietnam.

In any case, according to The Korea Herald, Korean Air revealed that the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore decided that its acquisition of Asiana Airlines will not be violating Singapore's Competition Act thus it approved the takeover.

After a review, the CCCS concluded that the merger is not likely to cause an increase in ticket prices which was initially feared because of the pressure from existing competitors like Singapore Airlines. It was added that since Singapore is already serving as a stop-over for most cargo flights, the merger is unlikely to limit competition of cargo flights as well.

The positive decision was handed down after the CCCS carried out a public consultation in July of last year. This was done to seek feedback from various groups including the competitors, the customers, the aviation regulatory bodies, regarding the Korean Air and Asiana Airlines merger.

Once Korean Air finally acquired Asiana Airlines, it is set to become the 10th biggest airline in the world. After the KFTC's decision, Korean Air Lines will have to wait for the remaining six countries to approve to complete the deal.

"In order to finalize the acquisition process as early as possible, Korean Air Lines will continue to proactively communicate and cooperate with the remaining regulatory bodies," Korea Joongang Daily quoted Korean Air Line's spokesman as saying in a statement.