Garuda Indonesia Colours Magazine January 2020 | Page 130

Garuda Indonesia / History of Garuda Indonesia
71 Years Evolution of
Garuda Indonesia’s Fleet
DC 3 Dakota
The long history of Garuda Indonesia
airlines’ journey in the world of aviation
cannot ignore the broad range of its air
fleet. Beginning with its maiden flight in
1949, Garuda Indonesia – at the time
known as ‘Garuda Indonesian Airways’
– operated the DC-3 Dakota and PBY
Catalina aircraft. Its next fleet consisted
of the DH Heron and Convair CV-340 in
1950, and the Convair CV-440 in 1956.
In the 1960s, the rapid development
of Garuda Indonesia’s fleet was marked
by the arrival of the Lockheed Electra in
1961. Subsequently, Garuda Indonesia
became the first airline in Southeast
Asia to operate the subsonic Convair
990A jet aeroplane in 1963. During this
era, its fleet was also strengthened with
the DC-8 in 1965, and the Fokker 27
and DC-9 in 1969.
The 1970s marked the beginning of a
new historical era for Garuda Indonesia
with the operation of its first wide-body
aircraft, the DC-10, in 1976. Shortly
afterwards, in 1977, Garuda Indonesia
became the sole airline to operate only
jet aircraft, with its fleet of DC-8, DC-9,
DC-10 and Fokker 28 aeroplanes.
7
Airbus A300-B4
3
1
2
Fokker 28
During the 1980s, Garuda Indonesia
was the largest Fokker 28 operator
in the world. The company also
brought in another wide-body aircraft,
the Boeing 747-200, in 1980. In 1982,
Garuda Indonesia became the first
airline in the world to initiate a
Forward Facing Crew Cockpit
(FFCC) with the Airbus
A300-B4 – the idea of Mr
Wiweko Soepono, CEO of
Garuda Indonesia at that time.
The expansion of
Garuda Indonesia’s air fleet
in the 1990s was marked by
the operation of the largest wide-body
aircraft of the era, the Boeing 747-400,
in 1994. The 1990s fleet also included
the Boeing 737-300/400/500, which
had been in operation since 1989,
the MD 11, which was added in 1991,
and the Airbus A330-300, in 1996.
128