2012 Best Overall Airline in the World. With these achievements attained over four consecutive years, Asiana Airlines is recognized as a Golden Grand Slam Airline, the first airline to achieve this. Apart from this prestigious title, the company has received the Best Airline for Onboard Service and Flight Attendants for eight consecutive years, among other awards. Asiana Airlines is rated as a "5-Star" airline by Skytrax. Financial crisis In April 2019, Asiana Airlines' parent company, Kumho Asiana Group announced its plan to sell Asiana Airlines as a solution to its financial crisis. The sale of Asiana Airlines began in July 2019. In June 2019, Aekyung Group, the parent company of Korean low-cost carrier Jeju Air, was considered as a strong candidate to take over. Korean Air's parent company, Hanjin Group, and SK Group also considered purchasing. Asiana Airlines discontinued unprofitable routes throughout July 2019 to October 2019, including Seoul–Incheon to Chicago–O'Hare, Delhi, Khabarovsk and Sakhalinsk. On 25 July 2019, Kumho Asiana Group, the parent company of Asiana Airlines, officially announced its intention to sell Asiana Airlines for an estimated price of 1.5 to 2.0 trillion won (US$1.26 to 1.68 billion). Asiana Airlines includes subsidiaries Air Busan, Air Seoul, Asiana IDT and other subsidiary companies. AeKyeong Group, the parent company of Jeju Air, has expressed interest in acquiring Asiana Airlines. On 4 September 2019, Aekyung Group, Mirae Asset Daewoo, and Korea Corporate Governance Improvement applied a letter of intent to acquire Asiana Airlines. On 12 November, a consortium of HDC Hyundai Development Company and Mirae Asset Daewoo was selected as the preferred bidder. Asiana Airlines has chosen to retire older aircraft, including Boeing 747-400s and Boeing 767-300s, allowing the airline to reduce debt and weakness. In July 2020, HDC Hyundai Development Company received approval from Russian authorities for its acquisition of Asiana Airlines. However, on 11 September 2020, Korea Development Bank, the primary creditor for Asiana Airlines, and Kumho Asiana Group officially canceled the merger with HDC Hyundai Development Company. Asiana Airlines will be run by creditors until a new owner is approved by the South Korean government. Merger and acquisition by Korean Air On 16 November 2020, the Government of the Republic of Korea officially announced that Asiana Airlines will be acquired by Korean Air, which will acquire a 30.77% stake in Asiana from Korea Development Bank. Korea Development Bank, a state-run bank in Korea, will give 800 billion won