DUBAI - Riyadh Air could announce an order for narrow-body jets within weeks, while an order for larger wide-body jets will be placed later, the airline's chief commercial officer said on Tuesday.

The Saudi start-up carrier plans to launch operations in June next year with Boeing 787 wide-body jets it previously ordered but has for months said it would also order narrow body jets.

"It should be done within the coming weeks," Vincent Coste said when asked about the status of the order, adding that the airline was under "no real pressure" to make an announcement.

Asked if an agreement had been finalised with either Airbus or Boeing for the narrow body order, he said discussions were in progress, without disclosing the planemaker.

Riyadh Air, which is owned by Saudi sovereign wealth fund PIF, last year agreed to buy 39 Boeing 787 jets with purchase rights for an additional 33 of the wide-body planes.

Coste said the airline would start selling tickets in January and launch its first flight six months later in June.

Riyadh Air would launch on average two new destinations a month until 2030, with the airline flying to around 10 mostly international destinations by the end of 2025, he said in an interview at the Arabian Travel Market tourism fair in Dubai.

Saudi Arabia's government is launching Riyadh Air as part of a wider, ambitious economic transformation of the country to diversify the economy away from oil revenues and create jobs.

(Reporting by Alexander Cornwell Editing by Alexandra Hudson)