Etihad Dreamliner cancellation mitigated by B777 conversions

The impact on Boeing's sales from the cancellation last week by Etihad of four B787 dreamliners appears to have been mitigated by the firming up of an order for three B777-300s.

The Abu Dhabi airline is said to have made a strategic move to reduce its exposure to the delayed Dreamliner programme. And has instead converted options to buy three 777-300ERs,.

The three aircraft have a book price in excess if US$850 million, barely $20 million less than the four Dreaminers

The changes are essentially a swap between two aircraft types and should give the airline about the same amount of new capacity, Etihad said.

The airline was originally scheduled to receive the first of its 35 Dreamliners in 2013, but this has been pushed back to the fourth quarter of 2014, according to ceo James Hogan,