Garuda Indonesia is the national and biggest airline of Indonesia. Named after the mythical bird Garuda it had its beginnings in the 1940s, when the airline originally founded by the Indonesian and Dutch governments was used in the Indonesian war of independence against the Dutch. The official founding date is January 26, 1949, when the airline’s name was Garuda Indonesian Airways.
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Garuda Indonesia is the national and biggest airline of Indonesia. Named after the mythical bird Garuda it had its beginnings in the 1940s, when the airline originally founded by the Indonesian and Dutch governments was used in the Indonesian war of independence against the Dutch. The official founding date is January 26, 1949, when the airline’s name was Garuda Indonesian Airways.
The first plane was a Douglas DC-3, soon followed by Convairs and Catalinas. By the mid-50s the airline fleet consisted of more than 40 aircraft.
During the 1960s the first flights to Europe (Amsterdam and Frankfurt) were added to the route network that had only included domestic and regional destinations up to then. More destinations in Europe and Chine followed soon and in 1965 the first jet plane, a Douglas DC-8, was introduced.
During the 1970s a large route network was upheld, new planes like the DC-9 and the Fokker F28 jet were added to the fleet. Airbus (A300) and Boeing (737, 747) planes were bought in the 1980s, as well as McDonnell Douglas MD-11s. The airline continued to grow and soon had a worldwide route network, serving America as well.
In 1998, however, the East Asian Economic crisis caused severe economic trouble for Garuda. As a consequence, many destinations are not reached anymore. As the crisis was followed by other events like 9/11, the Bali bombings, the SARS crisis or the 2004 tsunami, Garuda suffered even more, as air travel and tourism in Indonesia decreased remarkably.
Nevertheless the airline began to recover during recent years. In 2001 a low-cost carrier called CitiLink has been established in order to compete against competitors like Lion Air, Batavia Air or Adam Air.
Presently not serving Europe or North America at least the flights to Amsterdam are to be resumed from May 2007. Further expansions are being planned.
The airline fleet consists of around 60 planes, mostly Boeings, reaching more than 40 destinations.
Garuda has suffered 14 fatal accidents since its foundation. The most recent one took place on March 7, 2007, when a Boeing 737-300 (PK-GZC) en route from Jakarta crashed during landing at Yogyakarta airport. The plane burnt out completely, at least 20 of the 140 people aboard were killed, among them some Australian diplomats and Japanese tourists. It has already been the second fatal crash of an Indonesian airline in 2007.
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