Geneva: Rules allocating airline slots at airports should be "suspended immediately" due to the dire toll the new coronavirus outbreak is taking on the industry, the global aviation association said Monday.
Nearly half of passengers worldwide depart from more than 200 airports with slot coordination rules, which require airlines to operate at least 80 per cent of their allocated slots or risk losing their slot rights.
But the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said that "in exceptional circumstances, regulators can relax this requirement".
IATA said it was urging regulators to suspend the slot rules immediately and for the 2020 season.