Ethiopian Airlines resumes 737-8 MAax order, receives first since 2019 accident

Ethiopian Airlines (EA) has resumed its Boeing 737 MAX8 order after taking delivery of the first aircraft of the type since the fatal accident of flight 302 in March 2019.

The aircraft, registered ETAWJ, departed Boeing’s facility in Seattle, Washington on June 30, 2022, headed for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with a stopover at Manchester Airport, according to newsaero.

The aircraft’s delivery to its final destination took place on July 2, 2022, newsaero continued.

Ethiopian Airlines now has five B737 MAX in its fleet, according to planespotters.net data.

The delivery of EA’s newest Boeing 737 MAX8 follows the airline’s decision to return the aircraft type to its scheduled services in February 2022.

In a statement published in early February 2022, former Ethiopian Group CEO Tewolde GebreMariam said: “It is in line with this guiding principle that we are now returning the B737 MAX to service not only after the recertification by the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), EASA of Europe, Transport Canada, CAAC, ECAA and other regulatory bodies but also after the fleet type’s return to service by 36 airlines around the world.”

Boeing’s MAX variants, the 737-8s and 737-9s, were recertified by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on November 18, 2020.

Ethiopian Airlines has an order book of 25 737 MAX8s and further deliveries are expected to take place in 2022, the airline said on its website.