Nine New Board Members Appointed at Extraordinary Shareholders' Meeting
Company Name Change Planned After Regulatory Approvals
"Synergy Through Combining Strengths in Leisure and Aviation"
Suh Junhyuk, Chairman of Daemyung Sono Group, has joined the board of directors of T'way Air, a domestic low-cost carrier (LCC). This comes about four months after he became the largest shareholder by acquiring shares of T'way Holdings (the parent company of T'way Air) from Yerimdang.
Daemyung Sono Group plans to grow T'way Air into a core business of the group and maximize synergy by organically combining the strengths of its hotel and resort business with its aviation operations.
On June 24, T'way Air held an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders at its Aviation Training Center in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, and approved the appointment of nine board members recommended by Daemyung Sono Group, including Chairman Suh (as a non-executive director), as originally proposed. At the meeting, three internal directors, three outside directors, and three non-executive directors were appointed.
With the board reshuffle, it is expected that the CEO of T'way Air will also change. Jung Honggeun, who has led T'way Air for the past 10 years, will step down, and the new CEO is expected to be selected from among the three newly appointed internal directors. The candidates being considered are Lee Sangyun, head of the Aviation Business Task Force (TF) at Sono International; Ahn Woojin, head of Sales and Marketing; and Seo Dongbin, manager of the Aviation Business TF, all of whom have been appointed as internal directors. All three have previous experience working at Korean Air.
Lee served in various roles at Korean Air for over 20 years, including maintenance, human resources, and policy planning, until last year. Ahn worked at Korean Air for 12 years, handling domestic route analysis and route planning, before moving to Sono International in 2015. Seo was responsible for passenger marketing and sales at Korean Air and Jin Air from 2003 to 2015. T'way Air plans to hold a board meeting around June 27 to appoint the new CEO.
Suh Junhyuk, Chairman of Daemyung Sono Group. Provided by Daemyung Sono Group
With the appointment of the new board, Daemyung Sono Group has completed its acquisition of T'way Air, a process it has been actively pursuing since last year. Sono International, the holding company of Daemyung Sono Group, began acquiring shares of T'way Air in June 2024. In February 2025, it signed a stock purchase agreement to acquire all shares of T'way Holdings (a total of 52.34 million shares, representing a 46.26% stake) previously held by Yerimdang and the Yerimdang owner family for 250 billion won, thereby securing management control of T'way Air.
Subsequently, on June 10, the Fair Trade Commission approved the business combination of Sono International, T'way Air, and T'way Holdings. However, because the Fair Trade Commission's approval was delayed compared to the original plan, the shareholders' meeting was postponed twice before the acquisition was finalized.
Daemyung Sono Group plans to sequentially complete key regulatory procedures, including the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's review of major shareholder eligibility and approval for changes to the air transport business license, and then change the company name. The new name is expected to be one of 'Sono Airlines', 'Sono Air', or 'Sono Airline', for which Daemyung Sono Group has filed trademark applications.
Daemyung Sono Group plans to create synergy by linking T'way Air's domestic and international routes with its own hotel and resort infrastructure. The group also aims to strengthen aviation safety and financial soundness. A representative of Sono International stated, "We will combine our strengths in leisure and aviation and strive to become a leading global hospitality company in the leisure industry."
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