Etihad seeks efficiency savings with Belgrade service centre
The centre is designed to allow the airline and its partners to save costs
Abu Dhabi’s Etihad has announced the opening of a service centre in Belgrade that will serve customers of the airline and its equity partners Air Serbia, Air Seychelles and Etihad Regional.
The centre, with an initial workforce 200 Serbian nationals, will handle reservations and ticketing, itinerary changes and special requests as well as loyalty operations.
It will eventually expand to serve Etihad’s other partner airlines Alitalia and AirBerlin with a planned workforce increase to 685 people by 2020.
James Hogan, Etihad Aviation Group’s outgoing president and CEO, said the centre would provide efficiency savings for each airline and “allow them to compete effectively in an increasingly complex and competitive marketplace”.
Read: Etihad group CEO James Hogan and CFO to step down
The opening follows confirmation of job cuts at Etihad in December as the airline tackles tough economic conditions.
Read: Abu Dhabi’s Etihad confirms job cuts to reduce costs
Reports last week suggested talks had even taken place to merge Etihad and Dubai rival Emirates, but these were later denied.
Read: Emirates president dismisses reports of merger talks with Etihad
Etihad also operates three contact centres in Abu Dhabi, and one in Manchester.