Ethiopian Airlines (ET, Addis Ababa International) is in early talks with Airbus to purchase twenty A220s plus six additional A350s, according to a report by Bloomberg citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.

Considerations are at an early stage and there is no certainty that Ethiopian will proceed with an order, or how many aircraft it would buy, said the sources who asked not to be named.

ch-aviation has asked Ethiopian Airlines for comment, while an Airbus spokesperson said: "As a matter of principle, we do not comment on discussions we may or may not be having with potential customers."

Ethiopian Airlines has been mulling its regional fleet options for some time. Last year, Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Mesfin Tasew told ch-aviation that the long-awaited decision on the next regional aircraft fleet was close, with the carrier evaluating the A220-100 and A220-300, the E190-E2, and the B737-7 to complement or replace its ageing DHC-8-Q400 turboprops.

On the A220s, he confirmed the airline was considering both the -100 and -300 series. "We may consider both," he said, explaining that the -100 is better suited to Addis Ababa International's payload-restricting hot-and-high conditions, while the larger-capacity -300 would best fit domestic operations. A likely order scenario would be "10 firm and 10 options".

An agreement with Ethiopian would allow Airbus to have a bigger presence at the carrier, whose fleet is dominated by Boeing.

On the widebodies, Ethiopian already operates four A350-1000s and twenty-two A350-900s with seventeen more of the latter type on order.