Abu Dhabi, Feb 23 (IANS/WAM): Flag carrier of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Etihad Airways has been presented with the Best Finance Transformation Award in 2015 by a leading US-based company specialising in enterprise innovation.

The award was presented by Innovation Enterprise to Etihad Airways, which triumphed over other leading companies, for its Outstation Finance Transformation programme, developed to centralise the airline's processing functions to a low-cost operating environment.

James Rigney, Etihad's chief financial officer, said: "We are proud to receive this award for the great work carried out by our financial planning team... their dedication to this task has allowed us to reduce finance manpower, start moving to a regional structure, and to deliver cost and revenue improvements which have delivered $28 million in savings, with a target of a further $50 million this year."

The first phase of the programme required the creation of a worldwide centre of excellence which would process transactions valued at $1 billion from over 50 countries. 

The second phase saw Etihad Airways adopting leading initiatives to improve key processes and eliminate bottlenecks, in order to ensure that the centralisation of these functions were carried out without compromising the airline's high working standards.

The Innovation Enterprise group is a leader in the promotion of innovation in the Financial Planning and Analysis profession.