A committee overseeing the merger of Korean Air (KE, Seoul Incheon) and Asiana Airlines (OZ, Seoul Incheon) has begun transferring airport slots and traffic rights for a further ten monopolised routes to competing carriers, South Korean media have reported.

The Implementation Supervisory Committee announced on October 21 that the move forms part of the structural remedies mandated by the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) to approve the consolidation of the country's two largest airlines.

The routes include four services to the United States, one to the United Kingdom, one to Indonesia, and four domestic. Among others, local media named Seoul Incheon-Seattle Tacoma International and Seoul Gimpo-Jeju as affected by the move.

As part of the merger concessions, the KFTC mandated Korean Air and Asiana Airlines to transfer slots and traffic rights on 34 routes where the consolidation raised competition concerns. To date, remedies for six of these routes have been completed, with slots and traffic rights for services from Seoul Incheon to Los Angeles International, San Francisco, Barcelona El Prat, Frankfurt International, Paris CDG, and Rome Fiumicino redistributed to Air Premia, United Airlines, and t'way Air.

The allocation process for the ten routes will involve a public call for bids, followed by an eligibility review and final selection by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Aviation Traffic Deliberation Committee. Carriers selected to take over the routes are expected to be able to commence operations in the first half of 2026.

The transfer of the remaining 18 routes is scheduled to begin in early 2026.

A spokesperson for Korean Air offered no further comment for ch-aviation, saying that the remedies were “already decided by the KFTC when it concluded its merger review.”