Bangladesh, June 8 -- Kamil Al-Awadhi, Regional Vice President for Africa and the Middle East at IATA, made the remarks on June 6 on the sidelines of the airline trade group's annual summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Al-Awadhi said he does not expect the conflict or its associated cost pressures to alter aircraft procurement plans among Middle Eastern carriers, which are among the world's biggest buyers of jets from Boeing and Airbus.

"The plan is to continue where we're going... even though this is a hiccup," he told reporters.

He noted that given the lengthy waiting times for Airbus's latest generation of single-aisle aircraft, deferring orders now would leave operators scrambling for jets years down the line.

Global airlines are a...