Asiana Airlines has revealed it will reduce certain flights to Rome, Frankfurt, and Paris in April 2025 in accordance with the European Commission’s fair competition requirements following its merger with Korean Air. The merger, which was completed in December 2024, will see the two carriers retain their own identities for the time being, although the European competition authorities made it clear during the approval process that certain measures would need to be taken by the combined carrier to maintain competition with other Korean-based airlines.

According to the Korea JoongAng Daily, under the terms of the agreement, Asiana’s airline’s flight from Seoul-Incheon Airport (ICN) to Rome-Fiumicino Airport (FCO), which currently operates five days a week, will be reduced to operate four times a week from April 25, 2025. Meanwhile, the airline’s route from Seoul to Frankfurt Airport (FRA) in Germany will be cut back from a daily service to four flights per week starting April 30, 2025, while its route to Paris-Charles De Gaulle Airport (CDG)  Paris route will see a reduction from six weekly flights to five from May 12, 2025.

Tway Air
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Under the pro-competition clauses of the European Commission’s approval document, Korean budget carrier T’Way Air will take over the canceled frequencies under the merged entity’s agreement with the Commission. According to the report published in the Korea JoongAng Daily, Asiana had already determined which flights were set for cancellation before its deal with Korean Air was completed and stopped selling tickets on the flights to be cut from December 12, 2024. A spokesperson said that the official flight cancellation announcement had come three months later because “it took us time to coordinate.” 
 
According to Asiana, those passengers who were booked on the cut flights and whose flights have been canceled as a result, if they booked directly through Asiana, will be automatically rebooked onto the carrier’s alternative flights on other days. Passengers can choose to keep their new flight, change to flights offered by certain additional airlines on a different day, or cancel for a full refund, Asiana added. Additionally, Asiana will compensate customers for costs the flight changes incur, including extended hotel stays, and transportation, such as rental car bookings.

The European Union’s European Commission conditionally approved Korean Air’s acquisition of Asiana Airlines in February on the terms that the carrier would sell Asiana’s cargo business to Air Incheon and give up frequencies on routes on which the two airlines overlapped. These included routes from Seoul serving Paris, Frankfurt, Rome, and Barcelona to T’Way Air. Korean Air cut its flights to Barcelona on September 1, 2024, with T’Way Air taking over flights to the Spanish city in October 2024. As part of the merger conditions, Korean Air also sold Asiana’s cargo business to Air Incheon for 470 billion won ($324 million) at the end of 2024.

Asiana routes
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T’Way Air began life as Hansung Airlines which commenced operations in 2005. In 2010, the company was rebranded as T’Way Air, with the ‘T’ standing for ‘together, today and tomorrow’. The newly rebranded carrier recommenced services as a budget carrier using a pair of Boeing 737-800s on both domestic and international routes from its base in Seoul. The airline currently serves 46 destinations across 19 countries using a fleet of 27 Boeing 737s (-800 / MAX 8) plus three Airbus A330s which are configured for 347 passengers in a two-class layout. 

Tway
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Earlier in March 2024, following the completion of its merger with Asiana, Korean Air relaunched its branding and introduced a new aircraft livery to mark the rebirth of the newly expanded carrier.

The new livery, which was revealed on one of the carrier’s Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner replaces the current scheme which was first introduced almost 41 years ago on March 1, 1984, on the company’s Boeing 747-300s and McDonnell Douglas MD80s, both types of which have been long-since retired from the carrier’s fleet. Although 41 years is a long time for an airline to refresh its branding, the Asiana merger provided that platform for Korean Air to revisit its corporate image with the results being presented by the company on March 11, 2025.      

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