Coronavirus fear stalls 14th IATA World Air Cargo Symposium

March 03, 2020: Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 (coronavirus), the 14th International Air Transport Association (IATA) World Air Cargo Symposium has been stalled. The event was to be held in Istanbul, Turkey from March 10-12, 2020. As per an update from IATA, the event has been postponed to 2021. 

A statement from IATA read, "Although there have been no reported cases in Turkey, we have taken the decision to postpone the event. Since the first outbreak of COVID-19 in mainland China, we have been monitoring the situation in Istanbul closely, working daily with local and international authorities."

The event has witnessed an increased number of participant cancellations over the past few days for reasons including company travel bans and senior delegates needing to stay close to the base during the crisis.

Recently, air cargo India 2020 in Mumbai witnessed a good number of participants except for mainland China. While the events on the cancellation and postponed list include JOC's TPM20, California; Roads & Traffic Expo, Thailand; Security Cargo Network Annual International Conference, Bangkok; among others. Even though Singapore Airshow went as per schedule in February, more than 70 trade exhibitors have pulled out of the airshow.

In another development, IATA urged aviation regulators worldwide for suspension of slot rules due to COVID-19. In February, IATA estimated the outbreak will slash $29 billion of this year's revenue for global airlines, mostly Chinese carriers.