Asiana Airlines Inc. holds an extraordinary shareholders' meeting to vote on the merger with Korean Air at the company's headquarters in Gangseo District, Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

Asiana Airlines Inc., the country's second-largest carrier, said Wednesday its shareholders have approved its merger with larger rival Korean Air, wrapping up nearly six years of the latter's acquisition process.

Asiana held an extraordinary shareholders' meeting to vote on the merger, with an overwhelming majority of shareholders voting in favor of the deal with the national flag carrier, a company spokesperson said.

In November 2020, Korean Air announced plans to acquire Asiana in a deal valued at 1.8 trillion won ($1.6 billion), a move that would create the world's 10th-largest airline by fleet size.

"A mega-carrier to be created through the merger will be the first step toward writing a new history in Korea's aviation industry," Asiana Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Song Bo-young told reporters on the sidelines of the shareholders' meeting.