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IATA postpones World Cargo Symposium as registrants withdraw over coronavirus

IATA held its World Cargo Symposium in Singapore last year (Photo Credit: Flickr/IATA)

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced Tuesday that it is postponing its World Cargo Symposium, scheduled for March 10-12 in Istanbul because of risk from the coronavirus.

The news follows the cancellation of another major freight transportation conference, IHS Markit’s TPM conference for container shipping in Long Beach, California. 

“Although there have been no reported cases in Turkey, we have taken the decision to postpone the event,” IATA said on its website. “There has been an increase in the number of participant cancelations over the past few days for reasons including company travel bans and senior delegates needing to stay close to base during the crisis. Therefore, we feel that it would be best to postpone the event.”

The trade group said it will provide more information in the coming days about potential next steps related to the conference.


The World Cargo Symposium attracts hundreds of air cargo professionals from around the world. IATA’s North American subsidiary Cargo Network Services holds its annual Partnership conference April 26-28 in Dallas/Fort Worth. No changes have been made to date, but officials are exploring contingency plans, President Michael White said.

The increasing number of conference cancellations is hurting revenue for airlines and the rest of the hospitality industry. Airlines are scaling back capacity in line with reduced demand in an effort to stem losses to their bottom lines. Fewer passenger flights also translates into fewer shipping options for companies that rely on the space below the main deck to move goods.

On Monday, the International Housewares Association canceled its annual trade show scheduled for March 14-17 at Chicago’s McCormick Place where 60,000 people and 2,200 exhibitors from around the world were expected to participate. During the past weekend, the American Physical Society canceled its meeting in Denver; 10,000 people were expected. Workday canceled its sales conference this week in Orlando too.

IHS Markit also canceled its big energy conference, CERAWeek, in Houston. It was scheduled for March 9-13 and is typically attended by more than 4,000 people.


Other conferences are taking place this week, but attendance is lower, according to multiple reports and sources.

There are more than 80,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus worldwide and nearly 3,000 deaths so far. The respiratory illness is spreading around the world, but  it appears to be slowing down in China – giving optimism to officials at the World Health Organization that it is being contained at the place of origin.

Eric Kulisch

Eric is the Supply Chain and Air Cargo Editor at FreightWaves. An award-winning business journalist with extensive experience covering the logistics sector, Eric spent nearly two years as the Washington, D.C., correspondent for Automotive News, where he focused on regulatory and policy issues surrounding autonomous vehicles, mobility, fuel economy and safety. He has won two regional Gold Medals and a Silver Medal from the American Society of Business Publication Editors for government and trade coverage, and news analysis. He was voted best for feature writing and commentary in the Trade/Newsletter category by the D.C. Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He won Environmental Journalist of the Year from the Seahorse Freight Association in 2014 and was the group's 2013 Supply Chain Journalist of the Year. In December 2022, he was voted runner up for Air Cargo Journalist by the Seahorse Freight Association. As associate editor at American Shipper Magazine for more than a decade, he wrote about trade, freight transportation and supply chains. Eric is based in Portland, Oregon. He can be reached for comments and tips at [email protected]