EXTRANS GLOBAL - Air Freight News - Week 25 2025

Air Cargo General

1) As Asiana Airlines and T'way Airlines welcome new owners, how will they enhance operational transparency?

Asiana Airlines and T'way Airlines both had a governance structure compliance rate of 46.7% last year. Although the scores were the same, compared with the previous year, Asiana Airlines' score dropped by 6.6 percentage points, while T'way Airlines' score increased by 26.7 percentage points.
Judging from last year's figures alone, T'way Airlines is evaluated to have more transparent operations than Asiana Airlines. The problem lies in the "future". During the process of welcoming new owners, what kind of development prospects will the two companies have? As the governance structure risks of Asiana Airlines are solved to a certain extent, and with the completion of the enterprise merger approval procedure by the Fair Trade Commission, the acquisition of management rights by the Dae Myung Sono Group for T'way Airlines has become visible.
First, let's look at the compliance rates of the two companies last year: Asiana Airlines' score dropped due to non-compliance with 2 items such as the "dividend policy and the plan to implement dividends, which should be notified to shareholders at least once a year" and the "formulation and operation of the top management succession policy". These items were all complied with in 2023. Asiana Airlines introduced a top management (CEO) succession policy in 2023 and introduced a representative director candidate recommendation committee composed of all outside directors to systematize the CEO selection system.
However, this system was abolished the next year, and the background is related to Asiana Airlines being incorporated as a subsidiary of Korean Air. Asiana Airlines was acquired by Korean Air on December 12 last year. Previously, after the failure of the acquisition and merger with HDC Hyundai Industrial Development in September 2020, it was incorporated into the creditor group management system.
After the merger last year, with Song Bo-young being appointed as the representative director and former vice-president of Korean Air, Asiana Airlines could no longer maintain the original procedures and forms such as the representative director recommendation. Korean Air and Asiana Airlines are scheduled to operate independently for 2 years after the merger announcement, and then debut as the "unified Korean Air".
Korean Air also has not formulated explicit regulations related to the CEO succession policy, but is operating an internal process for the systematic cultivation and management of candidates for key executive positions including the CEO.
T'way Airlines obtained approval for enterprise merger review from the Fair Trade Commission on the 11th of last month. When the deal is closed, the governance structure will be changed to "T'way Holdings → Sono International → Park Chun-hee, Honorary Chairman of Dae Myung Sono Group". The largest shareholder of Sono International is Park Chun-hee, Honorary Chairman, the mother of Chairman Seo Joon-hyuk, who holds 33.24% of the shares. Chairman Seo holds 28.96% of the shares of Sono International.
The Dae Myung Sono Group is about to enter the board of directors of T'way Airlines. At the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders of T'way Airlines to be held on the 24th of this month, it is planned to appoint 9 director candidates recommended at the regular general meeting of shareholders in March this year, and a new representative director will also be appointed later.

2) EASTAR AIR - Strengthening the foundation for future growth through a large-scale rights issue

EASTAR AIR will improve its financial structure through a large-scale rights issue and strengthen the foundation for future growth such as the introduction of new aircraft and expansion of safety investment. It plans to complete a rights issue of 60 billion won within this month. This fund will be mainly used for expansion investment in the new B737-8 aircraft to be introduced sequentially from the second half of this year, as well as aviation safety investment such as the construction of a new integrated maintenance center and the improvement of the flight attendant training system.
In particular, all aircraft will be introduced as new ones to maintain the lowest age among domestic LCCs, and it is expected that in-cabin comfort will be improved. Currently, among the aircraft owned by EASTAR AIR, 5 are next-generation environmentally friendly B737-8 aircraft. This model achieves about 15% improvement in fuel consumption compared to the previous generation of the same class (B737-800), realizing fuel cost savings and carbon emission reduction.
It plans to introduce an additional 5 B737-8 aircraft by the second half of this year to maximize cost competitiveness through the effect of reducing fuel and maintenance costs.
Since VIG Partners acquired 100% of the shares in 2023, EASTAR AIR has been actively introducing equipment and expanding market share based on financial support and past operation experience.
In the first quarter of this year, despite unstable external variables such as oil prices and exchange rates, it achieved a positive operating profit. In the second half of the year, it will focus on maximizing profitability based on the economies of scale brought by aircraft introduction. A relevant person from EASTAR AIR said, "While ensuring financial soundness through a large-scale rights issue, we will focus on new aircraft introduction and aviation safety-related investment." and predicted, "With the debut of the integrated airline in the second half of the year, we expect to strengthen profitability by securing routes that are expected to be transferred."

3) Sono International, the parent company of T'way Airlines, challenges IPO again

Sono International, the parent company of T'way Airlines, will challenge listing on the securities market again, with the goal of being recognized with an enterprise value of more than 3 trillion won and raising up to 700-800 billion won in funds. It plans to apply for pre-listing review on the securities market to the Korea Exchange early next month. Sono International is the holding company of the Dae Myung Sono Group and holds 34.3% of the shares of Sono Square (formerly Dae Myung Sono Season), a KOSDAQ-listed company.
Sono International acquired T'way Airlines in February this year, acquiring 46.26% of the shares of T'way Holdings held by the original largest shareholder Yeryim Dang and its owner family for about 250 billion won. Sono International and Sono Square acquired 16.77% and 10.0% of the shares of T'way Airlines last year respectively. The Fair Trade Commission approved the enterprise merger of Sono International, T'way Airlines, and T'way Holdings on the 10th of this month.
Sono International plans to raise up to 800 billion won through listing, which will be the next after LG CNS listed this year. The raised funds will be used for resort business operation funds, overseas expansion, and synergy creation with T'way Airlines.
Sono International promoted listing in 2019 but withdrew due to the spread of COVID-19. Recently, it is judged that the market situation is not bad. For the first time in 10 months, foreign investors have shown net buying in the domestic stock market. Last year, the consolidated sales were 973.5 billion won, and the operating profit was 208.1 billion won. The largest shareholder is Honorary Chairman Park Chun-hee (33.24%), and the second largest shareholder is his son, Chairman Seo Joon-hyuk (28.96%).
A relevant person from the Dae Myung Sono Group said, "We are not considering the share sales of the largest shareholder."

4) Tire Bank Group - Making Air Premia a source of pride for South Korea

The Tire Bank Group issued an official statement to address the ongoing concerns and baseless rumors surrounding the acquisition of Air Premia.
On May 2nd, the Tire Bank Group secured more than 70% of the shares of Air Premia and acquired management rights through AP Holdings. Kim Jung-kyu, the President of Air Premia, said regarding this acquisition, "We have continuously made direct and indirect investments since the early days of Air Premia's establishment in 2018, and even when the aviation industry faced a huge crisis due to COVID-19, we supported its survival through continuous financial support." and emphasized, "This acquisition is an official move for responsible management."
President Kim views the aviation industry not just as a simple transportation industry but as the core of national competitiveness. He said, "Airlines are an industry that symbolizes a nation's dignity." and revealed the management philosophy of "cultivating Air Premia into a high-quality airline that becomes the pride of South Korea."
He pays attention to the economic value of the aviation industry and pointed out, "It can also contribute to national fiscal revenue through the role of earning foreign exchange." and also expressed expectations for the economic ripple effect of the aviation industry.
Regarding Air Premia's growth strategy, he said, "The characteristic of the aviation industry is to achieve 'economies of scale'." and explained, "We plan to cultivate the company into a competitive enterprise through additional equipment acquisition and mergers and acquisitions (M&A), etc."
Regarding concerns about fund-raising, he said, "The Tire Bank Group has many subsidiaries, and both the way of diversified participation by each subsidiary or the way of single acquisition by Tire Bank are possible." and said with confidence, "There is no problem at all in fund-raising."

5) Airlines Movement

T'way Airlines (TW): Launch of ICN - YVR (Vancouver) 4 times a week passenger route from July 12th (A333)
Delta Air Lines (DL): Daily operation of ICN - SLC (Salt Lake City) passenger route from June 12th to October 24th (A359)
Asiana Airlines (OZ): Increase of 1 flight from 10 to 11 times a week for ICN - BKK passenger route from July 27th to October 25th (A321N)
China Postal Airlines (CF): Operation of CGO - ICN cargo route 3 times a week from June 5th (B73F)

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