Korean Air Unveils Rebrand After $1.3B Asiana Acquisition

Korean Air has launched new branding and livery after acquiring Asiana Airlines. The merger will become one of Asia's biggest carriers by 2027. The new design features a modernized logo and updated colours. The move aims to align with minimalist branding trends and improve service quality with a commitment to safety as a priority.

Korean Air on Tuesday launched new aircraft livery and corporate branding that will be introduced across the company as it combines with South Korean rival Asiana Airlines to become one of Asia's biggest carriers. In December, South Korea's largest airline completed a USD 1.3 billion acquisition of two-thirds of Asiana, which will be run as a subsidiary until Jan 1 2027, when it will integrate under the Korean Air name and corporate identity.

Korean Air planes will now sport the word "Korean" instead of "Korean Air" in a larger, modernized, simplified dark blue font. The top half of the fuselage will be painted light blue with a new metallic effect. "The updated logo aligns with modern and global minimalist branding trends while preserving the airline's distinct identity," the company said. Since 1984, Korean Air planes have had distinctive sky blue and white bodies and tails decorated with a styled taeguk, a traditional blue and red Korean symbol for the harmony of opposing forces used on the country's flag.

The new tail design features a simplified features taeguk in dark blue only. The first plane with the refreshed livery is a Boeing 787 10, delivered last year. Korean Air, a founding member of the SkyTeam airline alliance, was established in 1969 when South Korean conglomerate Hanjin Kal took over state-owned Korean Air Lines. The Asiana acquisition recused the debt-laden carrier from struggling even before a plunge in travel demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. The deal finalized more than four years after it was first proposed was hampered by competition concerns and became the longest merger of airlines to complete.

According to a Reuters analysis of airline data, a combined Korean Air group could account for just over half of South Korea's passenger capacity and become the world's 12th largest carrier by international capacity. "After the merger with Asiana, we will continue to grow in revenue and size. But my most important growth measurement is service quality," Korean Air CEO Walter Cho told the media.

"My top priority is safety no matter what," Cho said. South Korea recently suffered two major aviation safety incidents a month apart, including the deadliest air disaster on South Korean soil when a Jeju Air plane crashed at an airport. Korean Air has said it plans to create a single low-cost carrier by combining Asiana's budget carriers, Air Busan and Air Seoul, with Korean Air's Jin Air.

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