NAIROBI, May 1 (Reuters) - Ethiopian Airlines

expects to carry 30% more passengers in the year ended June from

the year before, its chief executive told Reuters on Wednesday,

buoyed by new routes and a rebound in global travel.

Africa's biggest airline, however, faces risks from delayed

aircraft deliveries and the grounding of some planes due to

engine shortages caused by supply chain disruptions, Mesfin

Tasew Bekele said in an interview.

"We have a lot of challenges. For example, today we have

aircraft shortage since the manufacturers, particularly Boeing ( BA ),

are delaying aircraft deliveries," he said.

The delivery problems mainly affect narrow-body passenger

jets from Boeing ( BA ), he said, while the grounding is

affecting wide-body aircraft used for long-haul travel.

Ethiopian, which carried 13.9 million passengers in the year

ended June 2023, does not operate the variant of Boeing's ( BA ) MAX

jets that suffered a panel blow-out earlier this year, Mesfin

said, and it is confident Boeing ( BA ) can deal with safety concerns.

"We believe that Boeing ( BA ) is in a good position to fix all

these," he said.

Ethiopian is operating a fleet of 146 Boeing ( BA ), Airbus

and De Havilland planes, below the ideal level of 150,

Mesfin said, due to the delivery delays.

It has firm orders for 70 Boeing ( BA ) and Airbus planes and

options to buy 54 more, part of a plan to double its fleet and

route network by 2035.

The growth plan is expected to boost annual revenue and

passenger numbers by 400% and 440% respectively by the target

year.

Ethiopian's passenger numbers in the first nine months of

its current financial year show it is on course to hit its

growth target for this year, including a 20% increase in revenue

to $7.3 billion, Mesfin said.

"We are expanding our network and we're increasing the

frequencies on the existing network," he said, citing new

destinations like London Gatwick, Madrid and Bangui.

The airline is also investing in its cargo business,

including launching a $55 million e-commerce shipments handling

facility at its Addis Ababa base in February this year,

targeting firms like China's Alibaba ( BABA ) and others, Mesfin said.

"E-commerce business is growing now, faster than ever," he

said, referring to demand on the African continent.