Saudia turns to Airbus, Boeing wide-body jets amid single-aisle shortage

Saudia Group is in talks with Airbus and Boeing 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 narrow-body 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. A 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.<br/>