The Fair Trade Commission said on the 22nd it imposed a total of 6.46 billion won in enforcement penalties on Korean Air and Asiana Airlines. It determined the two carriers failed to carry out the corrective measure of "maintaining seat supply," which was imposed as a condition for merger approval.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) imposed enforcement penalties of 5.88 billion won on Korean Air and 580 million won on Asiana Airlines, respectively. The route in violation is the Incheon-Frankfurt route. The FTC's investigation found the two airlines operated the route with seat supply at 69.5% of the level during the same period in 2019 from Dec. 12, 2024, to Mar. 28, 2025. This falls short by 20.5 percentage points of the merger approval condition that prohibits "reducing below 90% compared with 2019."
The obligation to maintain seat supply was imposed to prevent airlines from indirectly inducing fare increases. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) determined that if only fare increases were restricted, airlines could effectively raise prices by reducing the number of seats. Accordingly, it required maintaining seat supply above a certain level from the merger date until structural remedies are completed.
When approving the merger of Korean Air and Asiana Airlines, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) imposed structural measures requiring the transfer of slots and traffic rights to other airlines on 26 international routes and eight domestic routes where competition concerns were significant. It also ordered behavioral measures such as maintaining seat supply, limiting increases in average fares, and maintaining service quality.
An enforcement penalty is a sanction imposed when merger conditions are not fulfilled and may be levied repeatedly if the violation continues. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said, "This is a measure to ensure the effectiveness of merger remedies," adding, "Reducing seat supply can directly affect consumer choice and airfares."
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) plans to closely monitor compliance with the remedies for Korean Air and Asiana Airlines from the end of 2024 through the end of 2034.
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