Korean Air-Asiana merger mileage plan approved with 1:1 conversion, 10-year validity
The Fair Trade Commission approved Korean Air's mileage integration plan, preserving Asiana miles for 10 years but setting a 1 to 0.82 ratio for miles earned through credit cards and partners.
Korean Air and Asiana Airlines planes are seen at Gimpo International Airport on Sept. 10.
YONHAP
Asiana Airlines' existing mileage will remain valid for 10 years after its merger with Korean Air, with flight miles converting at a 1:1 ratio, Korea's Fair Trade Commission (FTC) announced Tuesday in approving the carriers' mileage integration plan.
But partner miles earned through credit cards and other affiliates will be converted at a ratio of 1 to 0.82 — terms finalized four years after the FTC's conditional approval of the merger, following four rounds of revisions after the commission's initial rejection of the mileage plan due to its demands to maximize consumer benefits. Both the mileage conversion plan and lower ratio for credit card miles were first reported exclusively by the Korea JoongAng Daily on Feb. 5, 2025.
The plan takes effect on Dec. 17, when the integration of the two airlines is scheduled to close. Korean Air must comply with the terms for a full decade following the merger.
Under the plan, Asiana's remaining mileage will transfer to Korean Air but be maintained and managed separately for 10 years. Customers can choose to keep using their Asiana miles separately or convert them in full to Korean Air's SkyPass miles.
Members who don't convert will retain Asiana's existing redemption standards and expiration rules, while still being able to use their miles for bonus tickets, seat upgrades, mixed payments and shopping across all routes operated by the merged Korean Air.
Conversion can be requested at any point during the 10 years, but members must convert their entire mileage balance at once. Any miles not converted by the 10-year mark will automatically convert to Korean Air miles at the set ratio.
In addition, Asiana's elite members will receive equivalent status tiers within Korean Air's loyalty program. To accommodate them, Korean Air will introduce a new tier, Morning Calm Select, offering SkyTeam Elite Plus benefits, in addition to its existing three-tier system: Million Miler, Morning Calm Premium and Morning Calm.
The airline has also significantly expanded mileage redemption opportunities, addressing consumer concerns that award seats could become harder to find after the merger.
Korean Air must maintain bonus seat availability on long-haul, high-demand routes — including those to the Americas, Europe and Oceania — at or above the combined peak levels the two carriers offered over the past 10 years, with separate oversight standards governing annual mileage redemption.
“We plan to manage mileage usage at roughly 20 percent above the combined annual total that Korean Air and Asiana members used before the merger, ensuring redemption levels remain stable,” a Korean Air spokesperson said.
The airline must submit annual reports on peak season bonus seat availability to a compliance monitoring committee.
Once integrated, the merged Korean Air's annual revenue would exceed $17 billion based on last year's results, putting it right behind Turkish Airlines, currently the world's 10th-largest carrier.
The combined airline would operate about 230 aircraft and serve roughly 120 cities, while annual passenger traffic is projected to surge more than 55 percent, from about 27 million before the merger to more than 40 million.
BY SARAH CHEA [[email protected]]
