By Pesha Magid

DUBAI Saudi Arabia's newest airline Riyadh Air is still in talks with planemakers to place an order for narrow-body jets, its chief operating officer said on Monday.

The airline, owned by the kingdom's sovereign wealth fund and due to start operations in 2025, said this month it would buy a "sizeable" number of narrow-body jets in the coming weeks.

“We will at some stage order narrow body aircraft but we are still in negotiations,” COO Peter Bellew told Reuters on the sidelines of the week-long Dubai Airshow.

“We are trying to optimize the best deal for the airline, we are working closely with the manufacturers on it,”, he said, adding: “Nothing is ever over in life till it’s over.”

In previous years, the Dubai Airshow has seen a frenzy of aircraft order announcements by the likes of Emirates and other Gulf carriers.

Saudi Arabia has established Riyadh Air as part of the crown prince's plan to diversify the kingdom's economy which is largely dependent on its huge oil industry.

Bellew said that the airline planned to operate about 170 aircraft by 2030 and had so far hired 150 staff, including 20 pilots.

(Reporting by Pesha Magid, writing by Alexander Cornwell; Editing by Louise Heavens and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)