OREANDA-NEWS. Following the launch of its new daily service to Budapest, Emirates underpins its commitment to the Hungarian market with the opening of its second customer contact centre in Europe. The 300 seat facility in Budapest will support hundreds of local jobs, and represents a multi-million dollar investment by the airline.

The contact centre was officially opened by Laszlo Szabo - Deputy Minister and Parliamentary State Secretary - Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Thierry Antinori - Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at Emirates.

Thierry Antinori, Emirates' Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer and Laszlo Szabo - Deputy Minister and Parliamentary State Secretary - Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially open Emirates' new Customer Contact Centre in Budapest.

Acting as a European information hub, the purpose built centre in Budapest will utilise state-of-the-art technology, in keeping with the airline's commitment to quality and customer service. With the capacity to handle over one million calls and emails in multiple languages in the first year alone, the spacious environment has a number of dedicated staff training rooms, a quiet area to rest and common lounge area.

"The customer is at the centre of what we do at Emirates, and this new contact centre will have the same hallmark of service and excellence as our facilities around the world. Budapest was the ideal location for the opening of this centre - from the support we have received from its dynamic leadership, to a highly talented pool of qualified professionals, fantastic infrastructure and telecom support, Hungary was an obvious choice," said Thierry Antinori, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Emirates. "Our new service to Budapest is a testament to our continuous growth at Emirates, and our investment in Hungary. It's important to stay agile and develop our customer service experience to keep up with increased demand. Our new contact centre in Budapest will helps us manage our future growth and consistently deliver a great customer experience."

"This is an important milestone in our bilateral relations, it clearly shows the strong ties and trust between our countries," said Laszlo Szabo - Deputy Minister and Parliamentary State Secretary - Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. "In the last few years, the Hungarian government has created a financially stable business environment for FDI's, the opening of Emirates' new contact centre, is evidence of the commitment we are making towards Hungary's 'Opening to the East' foreign policy. The new direct flight between Dubai and Budapest will offer mutual benefits; besides tourism, the new service also supports the government's effort to assist local SMEs with greater access the Middle East markets."

Emirates' new customer contact centre is linked virtually to the airline's six contact centres in Dubai, Manchester, Mumbai, New York, Melbourne and Guangzhou, creating a seamless customer experience and a broader base of employees to service our customers globally. Each contact centre staff member around the globe is inter-connected to create one large virtual centre that is managed centrally, with common standards, performance measures, and a team of consultants that work as one team.

The customer contact centre provides services such as making new reservations or changing existing ones, booking a specific seat or if travelling in First Class and Business Class - booking a complimentary chauffeur drive service. Customers can also call the contact centre to redeem their Skywards miles. In addition the customer contact centre handles general customer enquiries relating to our products, services and network.

The contact centre in Budapest will initially offer multiple languages including English, Hungarian, French, Italian and German, and will grow into a staff strength of 300. Emirates' six global contact centres support over 48 countries and average around 35,000 calls and 6,000 emails per day. Together these contact centres have the capability of handling customer queries in 16 languages.