Minister Byeon Chang-heum Meets Chairman Cho Won-tae: "Expanding Benefits Through Airline Integration"

On the 10th, Korean Air and Asiana Express Commitment to Integration Support

Minister Byeon Chang-heum of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is attending the briefing session on special traffic measures for the Lunar New Year holiday held at the National Transportation Information Center of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in the Government Complex Sejong on the 10th. / Photo by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] On the 10th, Byeon Chang-hoom, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, met with Cho Won-tae, Chairman of Hanjin Group, and expressed his support for the integration of Korean Air and Asiana Airlines.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Minister Byeon received a New Year's courtesy visit from Korean Air Chairman Cho Won-tae at the Land Development Exhibition Hall and held a meeting.

Amid unprecedented damage to the aviation industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has been supporting M&A efforts to enhance the competitiveness of the aviation industry in various ways, in addition to financial and employment support for airlines.

At this meeting, Minister Byeon stated, "At a time when structural changes in the global aviation industry are accelerating, with airlines around the world striving to realize economies of scale through mergers and alliances and secure network competitiveness, the integration between Korean Air and Asiana is the biggest issue in the aviation sector," expressing his intention to support the smooth progress as the responsible minister.

He also urged, "Please actively work to ensure that the emergence of a global network airline ranked seventh in the world leads to tangible consumer benefits."

In particular, he highly praised Korean Air for maintaining employment and achieving profitable management through converting passenger planes to cargo planes, unlike other airlines worldwide, even during the COVID crisis.

Minister Byeon emphasized, "Please make further efforts to ensure employment stability and labor-management coexistence after the launch of the integrated airline," and added, "Please also make every effort to manage airfares and key routes to meet the public's expectations for more convenient and economical travel."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.