Thanks.
Christep - I see, I agree that it was a reissue, before embarkation on the first leg, and technically they could have reissued at the new fare which is actually about £1500 more each!! (110000SEK to the 85000SEK we paid).
The easiest thing for the desk to do to keep their customers happy though would have been just to issue us boarding passes for the earlier flight, especially as we had just spent £14500 with them. I wonder if this is possible without a corresponding paper ticket.
I think I should note here that I think the desk at the airport is a generic desk serving all airlines, and that the service provided by Margit at the AA office off-airport has been excellent.
All the best,
Marcus.