PARIS- The head of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) waded into a high-profile dispute between Airbus and Qatar Airways on Tuesday, saying the planemaker's decision to cancel a jetliner contract was a new and "worrying" development.

IATA Director General Willie Walsh, who ran airlines group IAG before taking the helm of the industry's trade body, said he and other airline industry chiefs hoped to understand what lay behind the dispute and told reporters it was important for relations between airlines and suppliers to return to normal.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher Editing by David Goodman ) ((tim.hepher@thomsonreuters.com; +33 1 49 49 54 52; Reuters Messaging: tim.hepher.thomsonreuters@reuters.net))