Garuda Indonesia

PT (Persero) Perusahaan Penerbangan Garuda Indonesia, abbreviated to Garuda Indonesia, is the national airline of the 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, Jakarta, with hubs at Ngurah Rai International Airport, Bali, Juanda International Airport, Surabaya, Polonia International Airport, Medan and Sepinggan International Airport, Balikpapan.

It is wholly owned by the Indonesian government and employs 6,251 staff (as of January 2005). It receives a 3-star airline rating from Skytrax.[1]

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 dollar which was provided by the Acehnese people (notably local merchants). ^{[citation needed]} During the revolution, the airline supported Indonesian interests, such as carrying Indonesian leaders for diplomatic missions.

Garuda Indonesia 747-400 at Narita International Airport

The government of Burma helped the airline significantly during the airline's beginnings. ^{[citation needed]} 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 their first pilgrim flight to the city of Mecca.

The 1960s were times of growth for the airline; the fleet in 1960 included 8 Convair 240, 8 Convair 340 and 3 Convair 440. In 1961 and late 1965 saw the introduction of 3 Convair 990 jet planes and also 3 Lockheed L-188 Electra, 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 28 September 1963 to Amsterdam and Frankfurt. In 1965 flights to Europe were expanded to include Rome & Paris via Bombay & Cairo, which were flown exclusively by Convair 990 aircraft. Also in 1965, flights to China were commenced, with Garuda flying to Canton via Phnom Penh. In 1965, the jet age arrived for Garuda, with a Douglas DC-8 which 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 not helped by the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Bali bombings, the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, and the SARS scare, all of which contributed to a down-turn 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.^{[citation needed]}

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, ^{[citation needed]} possibly after the completion of Kuala Namu International Airport in Medan. This is could include routes to major European hubs such as Paris, London and Frankfurt. However, it is possible that in order to keep costs down & profitability up, Garuda may employ secondary airports such as London Gatwick. A Garuda representative for the Benelux confirmed in August 2006 that Garuda will resume its route to Amsterdam in May 2007. [2]

In 2005, Garuda Indonesia carried 8,679,443 passengers [3], with a load factor of 68.73%.

Services

Main article: Garuda Indonesia destinations

Garuda Indonesia is a full-service airline, which is in contrast with the 'no frills' low-cost carrier. Therefore, the class configuration is divided into first (on Boeing 747-400s), business, and economy class.

It currently operates flights through to a total of 45 destinations (21 domestic, 24 international) throughout East & South East Asia, Australia, New Zealand & the Middle East. 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, Vietnam Airlines and Philippine Airlines. Taking these routes into account, Garuda Indonesia's route map extends to Western Europe.

The 24-hour call centre 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 in Jakarta. This system computerizes ticketing method, in which a traditional paper ticket is no longer required.

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 and New Zealand
• GA800-899: Asia (except Indonesia and Middle East)
• GA900-999: codeshares and Middle East

Fleet

The Garuda Indonesia fleet includes the following aircraft (August 2006) ^[1] :

• 3 Boeing 747-400
• 6 Airbus A330-300 (plus 3 on order)
• 2 Boeing 737-800
• 19 Boeing 737-400
• 17 Boeing 737-300
• 5 Boeing 737-500
• On order: 18 Boeing 737-800
• On order: 6 Boeing 777-200ER
• On order: 10 Boeing 787-9[4]

Previously operated:

• McDonnell Douglas MD-11/ER
• Airbus A330-200
• Fokker F28
• Boeing 747-100, -200 and -300
• Airbus A300-600
• Douglas DC-3
• Boeing 767-300
• McDonnell Douglas DC-10
• Douglas DC-8

Accidents and incidents

Since its first incident in 1950, Garuda Indonesia has suffered 14 fatal accidents.These are the three most recent:

• Garuda Indonesia flight 865, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 departing Fukuoka, Japan, overran the runway after aborting the take-off well above rotation speed. The number-3 engine fuel-line was severed, resulting in a massive fire and the total destruction of the aircraft. Amazingly, only 3 of the 275 people on board were killed.[5]

• Garuda Indonesia flight 152, an Airbus A300 aircraft flying direct from Jakarta, crashed 18 miles short of Medan airport in low visibility on 26th September 1997. [6]

• Garuda Indonesia flight 421 was a Boeing 737-300 travelling from Lombok to Yogyakarta on 16th January 2002, which was forced to make an emergency landing in poor weather on the Banjawang Solo River. One person, a stewardess, was killed in the accident. 59 other passengers and crew survived.[7]

See also

• List of airlines
• Transportation in Indonesia
• List of airports in Indonesia
• Flag carrier

References

1. ^ Flight International, 3-9 October 2006

External links

• Garuda Indonesia
• Garuda Indonesia UK
• Garuda Indonesia Japan
• Garuda Indonesia Fleet Age
• Garuda Indonesia Passenger Opinions

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