Etihad Airways reaches agreements with Airbus and Boeing to restructure orders

Following two consecutive years of losses, Etihad Airways has reached agreements with Boeing and Airbus to restructure a large portion of its previous orders. The airline is talking with Airbus about cancelling 42 aircraft (40 Airbus A350-900 and 2 A350-1000), which means the airline will still keep 20 A350-1000 on order. Further details of order changes at Boeing have not (yet) been disclosed.

Committed to take delivery of new aircraft over the coming years

Etihad Airways is committed to take delivery of five Airbus A350-1000s and 26 A321neos plus six Boeing 777-9s, but they are still thinking about the remaining orders. In a statement, the airline wrote: “the balance of the remaining orders will be defined at a later time through rescheduling, restructuring or reduction.”

Today (14 February), Airbus published its full-year 2018 results

“A350 deliveries increased compared to 2017 and included 14 of the larger A350-1000s. The programme reached rate 10 in the fourth quarter of 2018. The backlog supports this rate going forward, including the latest commercial discussions with Etihad to reduce its A350 order by 42 A350-900, leaving 20 A350-1000 for Etihad in the backlog. Airbus will continue to improve the A350 programme’s performance to reach breakeven in 2019 and improve margins beyond this.”

Etihad to continue to take delivery of Boeing 787 Dreamliners, but…

The airline confirmed it will continue to take delivery of Boeing 787 Dreamliners, but didn’t mention how many they would eventually take. So far, Etihad Airways received 28 of 71 787s it has ordered. Further details of order changes have not (yet) been disclosed.