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'PT (Persero) Perusahaan Penerbangan Garuda Indonesia', abbreviated to 'Garuda Indonesia', is the national airline of Indonesia. It is named after the mythical bird Garuda. In Indian Vedic tradition, Garuda is the carrier of the Hindu god Vishnu. The airline is based in Jakarta at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, with hubs at Ngurah Rai International Airport, Bali, Juanda International Airport, Surabaya, Polonia International Airport, Medan, Sepinggan International Airport, Balikpapan, and Singapore Changi Airport, Singapore. It is wholly owned by the Indonesian government and employs 6,285 staff (as of March 2007).

Contents

History

Travel classes

Destinations

Frequent flyer program

Flight Numbers

Fleet

Previously operated

Incidents and accidents

External links

References

History

Garuda Indonesia had its beginnings in the Indonesian war of independence against the Dutch in the late 1940s, when Garuda flew special transports with Douglas DC-3 aircraft. January 26, 1949, is generally recognized as the airline's founding date, at which time the airline was known as "Garuda Indonesian Airways." The first plane was a DC-3 known as ''Seulawah'' (Acehnese: "Gold Mountain") and was purchased for a sum of 120,000 Malayan dollars, which was provided by the Acehnese people (notably local merchants). During the revolution, the airline supported Indonesian interests, such as carrying Indonesian leaders for diplomatic missions.

The government of Burma helped the airline significantly during the airline's beginnings. Accordingly, upon Garuda's formal joint incorporation with KLM on March 31, 1950, the airline presented the Burmese government with a DC-3. By 1953, the airline had 46 planes, although by 1955 its Catalina fleet had been retired. In 1956, Garuda made its first pilgrim flight to the city of Mecca.
The 1960s were times of growth for the airline; the fleet in 1960 included eight Convair 240s, eight Convair 340s, and three Convair 440s. In 1961 and late 1965, three Convair 990 jet planes and three Lockheed L-188 Electra were introduced, and a route was opened to Kai Tak International Airport in Hong Kong. After concentrating on domestic and regional services, the first flights to Europe were added on September 28, 1963, to Amsterdam and Frankfurt. In 1965, flights to Europe were expanded to include Rome and Paris via Bombay and Cairo, with the exclusive use of Convair 990 aircraft. That year, flights to China started, with Garuda flying to Canton via Phnom Penh. Also in 1965, the jet age arrived for Garuda, with a Douglas DC-8 that flew to Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam.
The 1970s saw McDonnell Douglas DC-9 and Fokker F28 jets introduced, and at one point Garuda owned 36 Fokker jets, making Garuda the world's largest operator of F28s at that time. In the 1980s, Garuda introduced Airbus equipment such as the Airbus A300 and the Airbus A300-600, as well as Boeing 737s, Boeing 747s, and McDonnell Douglas MD-11s.
The East Asian Economic Crisis of 1998 hit Indonesia and Garuda hard, resulting in severe cutbacks on unprofitable routes. Despite once having a comprehensive worldwide route network, Garuda currently operates no flights to Europe or North America. Largely due to historical links with the Netherlands, Garuda continued to operate flights to Amsterdam after the initial cutbacks, although these flights have since been discontinued. The situation was exacerbated by the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Bali bombings, the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami and the SARS scare, all of which contributed to a downturn in air travel and Indonesian tourism. However, the airline has recovered favorably from its economic problems and seems to be in good economic shape entering the middle 2000s.
In 2001, a low-cost airline subsidiary, CitiLink, was established to provide shuttle services between Indonesian cities.
Garuda may expand its route map again before the end of the decade, possibly after the completion of Kuala Namu International Airport in Medan. This could include routes to major European hubs such as Paris, London, and Frankfurt.
In June 2007, the EU banned this airline, along with all other Indonesia airlines, from flying into any European countries. Spot checks conducted by South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Australia and the United States on Garuda Indonesia yielded satisfactory results. Under the support of the international aviation industry on all Indonesian airlines, EU promises to review its ban and will send experts to Indonesia for consideration to lift its ban. In August, the transportation minister of Indonesia announced that the EU will lift its ban hopefully somewhere in October, stating that the ban was attributed to communication breakdown between the two parties and that discussion is on the progress.
In July 2007, the Deputy of Marketing, Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Indonesia announced that Garuda Indonesia will fly to 2 Indian cities of Chennai and Mumbai, possibly in November 2007^[1]. .

Travel classes

Garuda Indonesia is a full-service airline, in contrast with the 'no frills' low-cost carrier. The class configuration is divided into first (on Boeing 747-400s), executive (business), and economy class. The airline lacks modern products often associated with international airlines, such as personal TV screens and business and first class seats which convert into beds. However, the introduction of such products may become viable in the coming years due to the recent restructuring and consolidation of the airline, which has delivered good profits in the first half of 2007. ^[2]

Destinations

Main articles: Garuda Indonesia destinations

Garuda currently operates flights to a total of 45 destinations (21 domestic, 24 international) throughout East and South East Asia, Australia and the Middle East, with Australia and Japan being vital tourism markets. Garuda Indonesia also offers flights to 13 other international destinations through code-share agreements with China Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Korean Air, Gulf Air, Qatar Airways, Silkair, Vietnam Airlines, and Philippine Airlines. Taking these routes into account, Garuda Indonesia's route map extends to Western Europe.
On 19 June 2007, Garuda Indonesia and Hainan Airlines entered a code-sharing arrangement in a bid to strengthen both airlines' marketing positions in Indonesia and China ^[3]. In this agreement, Garuda Indonesia will be the operating partner on the Jakarta-Beijing (vv) service, flying three times a week using the new B737-800.
A 24-hour call center is available for local customer access. The e-tickets system (paperless or electronic ticket) has been introduced on all domestic flights and flights to Singapore originating from Jakarta. This system computerizes ticketing method, in which a traditional paper ticket is no longer required.

Frequent flyer program

In 2005, Garuda Indonesia relaunched its frequent flyer program called Garuda Frequent Flyer (GFF) with a new look, new benefits, and new services. The new program allows members to earn miles on domestic and international flights and has four tiers of membership covering Blue, Silver, Gold, and Platinum benefit levels. New services for GFF members include a new website at http://gff.garuda-indonesia.com, including an on-line mileage calculator for
earning and redemption, on-line mileage balance, on-line personal profile management, and downloadable forms.

Flight Numbers

The flight numbers of Garuda Indonesia are classified as follows:

★ GA010-099: Citilink

★ GA100-699: domestic flights (within the territory of Indonesia)

★ GA677: Taipei - Jakarta codeshare (China Airlines)

★ GA678: Jakarta - Taipei codeshare (China Airlines)

★ GA687: Taipei - Denpasar codeshare (China Airlines)

★ GA688: Denpasar - Taipei codeshare (China Airlines)

★ GA700-799: Australia

★ GA800-899: Asia (except Indonesia and Middle East)

★ GA900-999: codeshares, Europe and Middle East

Fleet

The Garuda Indonesia fleet includes the following aircraft (at August 2007) :

★ 6 Airbus A330-300

★ 14 Boeing 737-300

★ 19 Boeing 737-400

★ 5 Boeing 737-500

★ 2 Boeing 737-800

★ 3 Boeing 747-400

★ On order: 18 Boeing 737

★ On order: 10 Boeing 787-8 (the contract over the purchase has yet to be signed)

Previously operated

★ Airbus A300 B4-220, -600

★ Airbus A330-200

★ Boeing 747-100 and -200

★ Convair 990

★ Douglas DC-3

★ Douglas DC-8

★ Fokker F28

★ McDonnell Douglas DC-9

★ McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30

★ McDonnell Douglas MD-11/ER

Incidents and accidents

Since its first incident in 1950, Garuda Indonesia has suffered 14 fatal accidents and 1 hijacked incident. These are some of them:

★ Garuda Indonesia Convair-990 crashed on May 28, 1968 at Juhu, in Bombay, India with all passengers surviving. The pilot mistook the much smaller Juhu airport used for small trainer aircraft for Bombay's Santa Cruz International Airport and tried to land his aircraft. It overshot the runway falling just short of the traffic road ahead and several residential buildings when its nosewheel got stuck in a ditch at the end of the runway. Had it not been for the ditch, the aircraft carrying over 100 passengers, would certainly have had many fatalties, both passengers and people on the ground.

★ Garuda Indonesia Flight 206, a DC 9 aircraft was hijacked on 28 March 1981. This was the first serious Indonesian airline hijacking, since the first case was a desperate Marine hijacker who was killed by the pilot himself. The hijackers, a group called Commando Jihad, hijacked the DC 9 "Woyla", onroute from Palembang to Medan, and ordered the pilot to fly the plane to Colombo, Sri Lanka. But since the plane didn't have enough fuel, it refueled in Penang, Malaysia and then to Don Muang, Thailand. The hijackers demanded the release of Commando Jihad members imprisoned in Indonesia, and US $ 1.5 million, as well as a plane to take those prisoners to an unspecified destination. The Kopassus commandos who took part in this mission trained for only three days with totally unfamiliar weapons, brilliantly executed this fast-paced operation. One of the Kopassus commandos was shot by the hijacker leader, who then shot himself. All the other hijackers were killed. All the hostages were saved.

★ Garuda Indonesia Flight 865, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 departing Fukuoka, Japan, on June 13, 1996, overran the runway after aborting the takeoff well above rotation speed. The number-3 engine fuel line was severed, resulting in a massive fire and the total destruction of the aircraft. Three of the 275 people on board were killed.^[4]

★ Garuda Indonesia Flight 152, an Airbus A300 aircraft flying direct from Jakarta, crashed in Sibolangit, 18 miles short of Medan airport in low visibility on September 26, 1997. All 222 passengers and 12 crews were killed.^[5]

★ Garuda Indonesia Flight 421 was a Boeing 737-300 traveling from Lombok to Yogyakarta on January 16, 2002, which was forced to make an emergency landing in poor weather on the Bengawan Solo River. One person, a stewardess, was killed in the accident; 59 other passengers and crew survived. ^[6]

★ Garuda Indonesia Flight 238, a Boeing 737-500 registered PK-GGD bound for Semarang on February 1, 2007, collided with a Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747-300, registered TF-ATJ when doing pushback at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. None of the 96 passengers were injured. ^[7]

★ Garuda Indonesia Flight 200, a Boeing 737-400 (registration PK-GZC) flying from Jakarta, crashed and burst into flames on landing at Adisucipto International Airport, Yogyakarta at 0700 hours on March 7, 2007. 21 people were killed.^[8]

External links

★ Garuda Indonesia

★ Garuda Indonesia UK

★ Garuda Indonesia Japan

★ Garuda Indonesia Fleet Age

References

1. [1]
2. [2] Garuda Indonesia news
3. Garuda Indonesia-News
4. Air Disasters - 1996 Crash
5. Air Disasters - 1997 Crash
6. Air Disasters - 2002 Crash
7. Kompas February 2007 Crash
8. Daily Telegraph March 2007 Crash