On January 26, 1949, Garuda Indonesia was officially established as
Indonesia's government-owned flag carrier. To begin with, the airline
focused on domestic and regional travel. However, in 1962, the
Dutch-occupied island of Dutch New Guinea was added to the Indonesian
territory and Garuda faced the huge challenge of starting up flights to
the very remote and isolated settlements of Irian Jaya. Fortunately, the
airline had the assistance of another Indonesian government-owned
airline, Merpati, which would later become a feeder and subsidiary of
Garuda.
In the mid-1980s, a massive reorganization led to Garuda offering
international flights, which required the modernization of the entire
fleet. The late '90s saw a new management having to cope with the
disastrous effects of the Asian financial crisis closely followed by the
deregulation of the aviation industry in 2000, which greatly increased
competition in the domestic market. Over subsequent years, Garuda has
faced many more challenges, from the effects of the 9/11 terrorist
attacks and the Bali bombings to the 2003 SARS epidemic and the COVID-19
pandemic. However, despite these setbacks, it has successfully
transitioned from a small domestic carrier to a player on the
international stage. This fully illustrated volume looks at Garuda's
turbulent history from its involvement in Indonesia's postwar struggle
for independence to operations during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
