US carrier United Airlines has reached an agreement for the firm order of 25 additional Boeing 737 Max aircraft.

The announcement was made in the company’s securities filing. The carrier is expecting to take the delivery of the new aircraft in 2023.

United chief commercial officer Andrew Nocella was quoted by CNBC as saying: “As we plan for the future and the return of demand, we’ve been looking at ways to best position our fleet for the recovery and be in a position to best take advantage of people’s desire to travel.

“And as the end of the pandemic nears and vaccines continue to roll out, today’s fleet announcement helps position us to meet the demand we expect to see in 2022 and 2023 and puts us on a path toward more opportunities for our employees in the future.”

The order comes a few months after the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) cleared Boeing’s 737 Max to resume flying passengers after it was grounded for nearly two years.

United also rescheduled the delivery of 40 previously ordered Boeing 737 MAX aircraft to next year and another five aircraft into 2023.

The carrier has total firm commitments for 188 Boeing 737 MAX.

United reported a net loss of $7.1bn for the full-year 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.