By Shivansh Tiwary

NEW DELHI, June 2 (Reuters) - Ethiopian Airlines is

looking to order at least 20 regional or small narrowbody jets

as it moves to expand its domestic fleet and replace some ageing

aircraft, the airline's chief executive told Reuters on Monday.

"We are evaluating three aircraft models, the E-2 from

Embraer ( ERJ ), the A220 from Airbus, and the 737

MAX 7 from Boeing ( BA )," CEO Mesfin Tasew Bekele said in an

interview.

The final order quantity will depend on the type chosen, he

added. Boeing's ( BA ) 737 MAX 7, which has a larger seating capacity

and sits at the bottom of a larger category than the Airbus A220

and Embraer E-2, is yet to be certified.

Africa's largest carrier is experiencing strong travel

demand but has been constrained by jet delivery delays and the

grounding of some aircraft due to engine shortages stemming from

supply chain disruptions.

"We are receiving airplanes from both Boeing ( BA ) and Airbus, but

deliveries have been delayed, some by three months, some six

months, some more," Bekele said on the sidelines of an annual

IATA meeting of global airline leaders.

The company is also in talks with lessors to bring onboard

some jets to ease capacity constraints.

The airline is among several facing grounded aircraft due to

bottlenecks in engine maintenance plants. Ethiopian has three

Boeing 787 widebody jets grounded due to a shortage of

Rolls-Royce engines, with five turboprop aircraft

grounded due to a shortage of RTX's Pratt & Whitney engines.

"Normally engines were supposed to be repaired and returned

in three months typically, but now it takes six months or even

more to get them repaired and returned," Bekele said.