New contact centre opens to support Etihad's Airway guests

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has completed the final phase in the development of its Al Ain contact centre facility, with the opening of a second contact centre, bringing to three the number of centres within the UAE, and a total of four worldwide.
The new facility will complement the airline's current Al Ain contact centre, which was launched in 2011, and is staffed and managed by a team of 170 UAE national women.
The centre will operate 24/7 with a desk capacity for 70 agents providing bilingual Arabic and English assistance to the airline's guests. Contact centre agents are trained to handle all aspects of customer inquiries relating to their journey with Etihad Airways and membership of the airline's loyalty program, Etihad Guest. The new centre will support the airline's guests in the UAE and across the Gulf region.
Etihad Airways' Chief Commercial Officer, Peter Baumgartner, said, "We are pleased to expand our Al Ain contact centre, and enhance the guest experience with highly trained, multilingual contact centre agents.
"Our contact centres, which are located in the UAE and the UK, handle around three million calls each year. As Etihad Airways grows, we continue to evolve our guest services to provide the best experience for all our guests and travel trade partners." The new contact centre will provide full time employment for 140 contact centre agents from a diverse mix of nationalities. Each agent will all undergo extensive training in all aspects of the airline's reservations systems and booking procedures.
Etihad Airways' contact centres in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Manchester support guests and trade partners in 37 markets across 14 languages.
The Al Ain contact centre was recognised as the ‘Best Large Call Centre' at the Insights Middle East Call Centre of the Year Awards in June 2014.