Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has been honoured for the third consecutive year at the Insights Middle East Call Centre Awards 2014.

The airline received the ‘Best Large Call Centre’ award for its Al Ain Contact Centre during a gala ceremony in Dubai, attended by more than 300 call centre professionals from across the Middle East. The centre previously won the ‘Best Facilities’ title for two years in a row at the Insights Middle East Call Centre Awards in 2012 and 2013.

Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways chief commercial officer, said: “Our Al Ain Contact Centre is a world-class facility and we are extremely proud that the team’s accomplishments have been consistently recognised by the prestigious Insights Middle East Call Centre Awards.

“Last year alone, a record 750,000 calls were handled in both Arabic and English from the centre’s state-of-the-art premises, covering important markets throughout the Middle East region. We will build on this success in 2014 by opening an additional male and female contact centre next to the existing facility, which will operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”

The Al Ain Contact Centre was opened in March 2011 as part of Etihad Airways’ Emiratisation program and is currently staffed by 200 Emirati women, including four quality management executives, 13 team leaders and two performance managers.

“We are committed to developing Emirati talent in our contact centres and across the airline’s operations. The rationale behind the Al Ain Contact Centre is to provide exciting career opportunities in the UAE national carrier to the Al Ain workforce. We have successfully created an environment where Emirati women can develop their skills and experience, while sustaining a balance between home and work,” Baumgartner added.

Etihad Airways has three other contact centres located in Abu Dhabi, Mumbai and Manchester. Together, the four contact centres handled more than 2.5 million calls in 2013, serving 14 languages and assisting guests in 44 markets throughout the world. – TradeArabia News Service