Korean Air

Korean Air is the largest airline of South Korea and its de facto flag carrier, headquartered in Seoul, founded in 1962 as the state-owned Korean Air Lines and privatized in 1969 when it was acquired by the Hanjin Group, the industrial conglomerate that has controlled it since. A founding member of the SkyTeam alliance in 2000, Korean Air operates its principal hub at Incheon International Airport and became substantially larger following a long-pursued acquisition of its domestic rival Asiana Airlines, a deal first proposed in 2020 and completed in the mid-2020s after extensive antitrust review in multiple jurisdictions. The airline has historically operated one of the largest cargo fleets of any passenger carrier alongside its scheduled passenger network.