WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th April, 2020) ASHINGTON, April 3 (Sputnik) The annual WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point news / Sputnik - 04th April, 2020) orld Air Transport Summit, which had been scheduled to take up a global airline crisis due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, has been delayed until it becomes safe to meet, possibly late this year, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said in a press release on Friday.
"The 76th IATA AGM [annual general meeting] and World Air Transport Summit will be held when it is both safe and practicable to do so. IATA anticipates that will be in the late third or early fourth quarter of 2020. An announcement will be made when a date is confirmed," the release said.
The meeting, originally scheduled in June, will attempt to deal with what IATA called "the deepest crisis the air transport industry has ever faced."
Much of the airlines' passenger business remains grounded due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. Cargo carriers are faring somewhat better amid demand for shipping critical medical supplies, according to the release.
Passenger airline ticket demand for international and domestic flights took its biggest hit in February since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, falling more than 14 percent from the previous year, the IATA reported earlier in the week.
