Etihad Airways opens new contact centre in Manchester

the team who opened the new contact centre
8,260
Filed under - Archived Content

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has opened its Manchester guest contact centre with a reception for government officials and local business leaders.

Based at the Voyager Building at Manchester Airport, the guest contact centre is the airline’s first in Europe and fourth in the world. It will operate in conjunction with existing guest contact centres in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and India.

The guest contact centre will provide full-time employment for 160 local people, all of whom will receive extensive training in all aspects of the company’s global reservations system.

Manchester was chosen as the location for Etihad Airways’ first European guest contact centre after extensive research showed the city’s population offered the optimal mix of languages and skill sets. Manchester’s telecommunications infrastructure also put it ahead of rival cities.

Etihad Airways President and Chief Executive Officer James Hogan said: “The opening of the Etihad Airways Manchester guest contact centre further demonstrates Etihad Airways’ commitment to the north of England.

School leaver Ryan Al Hakim, 18, who has completed a month-long training course to work at the guest contact centre as a sales agent, said: “Having a job in the current economic climate makes me feel proud that I have skills that are valued in a tough market. It means I can stand on my own two feet and not rely on others to carry me.”

Guest contact centre agent John Byrom, 18, said: “This job means so much to me. So many people today are unemployed and I feel lucky to walk out of college and into full-time employment. I have always wanted to work in the aviation industry.”

Pictured above (from left): Etihad Airways cabin crew, Etihad Airways Manager Manchester Contact Centre Sanjay Parmar, Etihad Airways President and Chief Executive Officer James Hogan, Manchester City Council Leader Sir Richard Leese and Manchester City Council Chief Executive Sir Howard Bernstein at the opening of the Etihad Airways Guest Contact Centre in Manchester.

Author: Jo Robinson

Published On: 8th Feb 2012 - Last modified: 12th Dec 2018
Read more about - Archived Content

Follow Us on LinkedIn
1 Comment

  • I would like to inform you about one of your employees who I assume works in the contact centre. He was Very, Very helpful and so patient when dealing with my query/ problem. It was a pleasure to talk to someone who just went out of his way to help, nothing was too much trouble.
    My husband and I are flying to Australia, 7 th December, stopping in Abu Dhabi for 3 days then on to Melbourne on 11th December.
    I needed to change my seating on these flights. I had tried to do this myself via the Internet on (my trip site) but didn’t have much luck so ended up calling one of the contact numbers which was answered by a very pleasant speaking gentleman call AKMAL, unfortunately I didn’t get his surname. As I said before he managed to find mine and my husbands bookings, which wasn’t straight forward as my son-in-law had booked these for me by booking each leg of the journey separately. Therefore making it very difficult for me to figure it all out. As I mentioned before Mr AKMAL was very patient and sorted everything out for me very professionally.
    I am looking forward to our flights with Etihad, and if your employees on the flight are as helpful and as pleasant then I am sure We will have a very good experience.
    Thank you.
    Mrs Carol Hajitheophanous

    Mrs C Hajitheophanous 24 Nov at 23:33