Ethiopian Aviation Holding Group chief executive Tewolde Gebremariam has confirmed the group's Ethiopian Airlines (ET, Addis Ababa International) unit will take delivery of its first B737-8 in June this year, The Reporter newspaper has said.

Ethiopian ordered twenty B737 MAX 8s from Boeing (BOE, Washington National) in 2014 with options and purchase rights for an additional fifteen of the type. Thus far, it has firmed up ten of those options bringing its overall backlog to thirty MAX 8s.

The carrier is also considering the B737-7 as part of its 100-seater regional jet order, expected to be placed later this year.

Ethiopian currently operates fifteen B737-800s and four B737-700s on regional African and Middle Eastern routes.