Air Incheon to amend AOC for Asiana freighters in Q1

Air Incheon plans to amend its AOC in early 2025 ahead of the transfer of Asiana Airlines’ freighters after the European Commission gave the green light Nov. 28 for the cargo airline to acquire Asiana’s freighter business after Korean Air acquires Asiana. Air Incheon will apply for the amendment in February or March with South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and expects to transfer one or two of Asiana’s 747-400 freighters shortly after that, Air Incheon told Cargo Facts . [caption id="attachment_57147001" align="aligncenter" width="887"] Air Incheon will add Asiana's widebody freighters to its four 737-800SFs. (Courtesy/Malaysia Airports)[/caption] Asiana’s remaining ten 747-400Fs and one 767-300F will join the Air Incheon AOC by June 2025, Air Incheon said. Competition concerns The European Commission approved Air Incheon’s purchase of Asiana’s freighter business because, according to a Nov. 28 statement: Air Incheon is a South Korean airline independent from Korean Air and Asiana with a hub at Incheon Airport (ICN); The cargo carrier has the financial resources, expertise and incentives to maintain and develop the business as a viable and active competitive force; and The divestment does not raise any competition concerns or risks. In February, the agency made the freighter divestment a condition for its approval of the merger of South Korea’s top two airlines due to competition concerns. Air Incheon expects to sign the final deal to spin out Asiana’s freighter business in January after Korean becomes Asiana’s largest shareholder on Dec. 20, Air Incheon told Cargo Facts . New widebody operator Air Incheon operates four 737-800SFs but will enter the widebody market thanks to the deal. It is in discussions with conversion providers, lessors and manufacturers on renewing the Asiana freighter fleet , consisting of: Six 1994- to 2004-vintage production 747-400Fs, including two ex-China Airlines units (30768 and 30765) that it put into service in October and November, respectively; Six 1991- to 1999-vintage 747-400BDSFs; and One 1996-vintage production 767-300F. Air Incheon expects to close the whole acquisition, worth about $340 million, by the end of June 2025, it said. It then would have acquired all of Asiana Cargo’s freighters, freighter slots and traffic rights, employees and customer contracts. Hyundai Glovis, the logistics subsidiary of South Korea-based Hyundai Motor Group, said in August that it would invest approximately $110 million in Socius Private Equity Fund No. 5, the private equity fund behind Air Incheon, to support its acquisition of Asiana’s freighter business. Air Incheon and Korean Air signed a sale and purchase agreement on Aug. 7 after Korean announced in June that it had selected Air Incheon as the preferred bidder for Asiana Cargo. The South Korean government proposed merging Korean and Asiana in late 2020. Register now for Cargo Facts' essential regional events for industry stakeholders: Cargo Facts LATAM 2025 on Feb. 10-11 at the Pullman Sao Paulo Guarulhos Airport in Brazil; Cargo Facts Asia 2025 on March 24-26 at the W Shanghai in China; and Cargo Facts EMEA 2025 on May 6-8 at the Shangri-La Bosphorus in Turkey.

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