While Korean Air merges, other carriers take off on their own

Korean Air's merger with Asiana Airlines, set to close in December, has dominated headlines about the country's aviation industry. But it is only one piece of a wider recalibration now remaking the market. Smaller carriers are reshuffling in its wake, not just shedding their low-cost identities but breaking into medium- and long-haul markets altogether, each charting its own path to survive. Besides the merger at the top, a parallel shift is unfolding on the budget end. Earlier in August, the bo