By Shivansh Tiwary and Aditi Shah

NEW DELHI, June 6 (Reuters) - Saudia Group is in talks

with Airbus and Boeing ( BA ) over ordering wide-body

jets to increase its capacity as planemakers face constraints in

production slots of narrow-body aircraft, a spokesperson for the

group told Reuters.

The state-owned group, which owns Saudia Airlines and budget

carrier Flyadeal, last month ordered 105 narrowbody Airbus

planes but had a requirement for 180, said Saudia Group General

Manager, Communications and Media Affairs, Abdullah Alshahrani.

Air travel is surging post pandemic and demand for planes is

outstripping production as supply chains struggle to ramp up at

the same pace. Airbus in January said it is sold out until the

end of the decade for single-aisle jets.

Lack of production slots at Airbus, especially for the A320,

forced the group to look at wide-body jets, Alshahrani said in

an interview on Thursday on the sidelines of the CAPA India

aviation conference in New Delhi.

Alshahrani said the group had been "lucky" to get the

105-plane order with Airbus but needed more, adding that Saudia

is looking at the Boeing 787 and Airbus A330.

The number of wide-body jets, which will serve both Saudia

Airlines and Flyadeal, is under discussion but Saudia Group will

place an order this year, he added.

Flyadeal's CEO told Reuters earlier this week that it is

studying a possible order for between 10 and 20 wide-body jets.

Saudi Arabia is investing billions of dollars to diversify

its economy away from fossil fuel and has an ambitious aviation

plan, with new airlines, jet orders and potentially a huge

international airport as it takes on regional rival and current

Gulf travel hub, the UAE.

The kingdom is also trying to get China's COMAC to set up a

local production facility as the Chinese planemaker steps up

efforts to sell overseas and break into a passenger jet market

dominated by Airbus and Boeing ( BA ).

Alshahrani said Saudia Group plans to visit COMAC's China

facility in September to test the jets so they can be considered

in future, but it was "not the time" to place an order.

COMAC's planes fly almost exclusively within China and it is

yet to receive benchmark certifications from the United States

or the European Union.

Saudia Group flies to 100 destinations and plans to increase

this to 150 by the end of the decade as it takes deliveries of

200 new planes, including the Airbus A321XLRs.

India is an important growth market for Saudia Group, which

plans to regain share lost to rivals with more direct flights,

new destinations and improved plane cabins.

Alshahrani said the group is also in talks with Air India

for a codeshare agreement.

"We want to work with Indian carriers closely on any type of

cooperation to increase and offer good options to the Indian and

Saudi passengers," he said.