March 15 (Reuters) - Qatar Airways is in early talks

with Boeing ( BA ) and Airbus to order 100 to 150

widebody jets to expand and renew its fleet, Bloomberg News

reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Major airlines are in a race to procure new fuel-efficient

widebody jets to keep operating costs down and to cater to

booming international travel demand.

The order will most likely be for the Airbus A350 or Boeing

777X models, the report said.

Qatar Airways has submitted a request for a proposal to

Boeing ( BA ) and Airbus for a "big" new aircraft order, its CEO Badr

Mohammed Al Meer said during a CNBC interview on Friday.

"We are in constant dialogue with our customers, but we

never comment on the confidential content of our talks," Airbus

said.

Boeing ( BA ) deferred to Qatar Airways for a comment. Qatar

Airways did not immediately respond to a Reuters request.

Earlier this month, Qatar's national carrier said its entire

fleet of A350 jets were back into service, more than a year

after settling a legal dispute with Airbus over damage to their

painted surface.

Meanwhile, Boeing's ( BA ) 777X program, which has seen hundreds of

jet orders from airlines across the world, is plagued by years

of delays.