Etihad Airways said it plans to establish a revenue accounting centre in Al Ain to help airlines to cut costs and run their operations efficiently.
The new centre will create around 1,000 jobs for Emiratis over the next three years, Etihad said.
The announcement came as Abu Dhabi is hosting The International Air Transport Association (IATA) financial symposium later this week.
The centre will aim to serve Etihad and its equity partners, along with other airlines around, according to Etihad.
“Revenue accounting is an expensive and time consuming aspect of the global airline business,” said James Hogan, president and chief executive of Etihad Airways.
“A range of outsourced support services will be offered by the centre ... to boost efficiency, and combining back office functions to attain economies of scale,” Mr Hogan added.
Etihad said that 100 Emiratis will join the centre on October 1, after attaining an IATA certification. They will work to integrate the major functions of each airline in aspects such as: revenue management, network planning, alliances, commercial strategy, financial accounting, and reporting.
The centre will be initially based at the Al Ain campus of Abu Dhabi University, a close distance to the Etihad contact centre at Al Ain.
selgazzar@thenational.ae
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