United Airlines has painted its first Boeing 737 Max 9 in the swoop livery that adorns its Dreamliners, as it prepares to take its first aircraft later in April.

United 737 Max

United Airlines

The 737-9 is the first aircraft type in the US carrier's fleet to receive the swoop livery since it was introduced on the Boeing 787 in 2012.

United is scheduled to take its first three 737-9s (MSNs 43430, 43431 and 43434) this month, with 10 aircraft due in 2018, its fleet plan shows.

The Chicago-based airline has 61 737-9s and 100 737 Max 10s on firm order.

United will station 737-9s at its Houston Intercontinental and Los Angeles hubs from June, introducing the aircraft on its Houston routes to Anchorage, Austin, Fort Lauderdale and San Diego on 7 June.

Its 737-9 network will be expanded to include Honolulu, Los Angeles and Sacramento from 29 June.

United's 737-9s will be configured with 179 seats, comprising 20 in first class and 159 in economy – the same density as its 737-900ERs.

The airline is the US launch operator of the 737-9, which was delivered to global launch operator Thai Lion Air in March.

Source: Cirium Dashboard