Garuda Indonesia

Garuda Indonesia (PT Garuda Indonesia (Persero) Tbk IDX: GIAA) is the flag carrier of Indonesia. Named after the holy bird Garuda of Hinduism from the national emblem of Indonesia, the airline is headquartered at Soekarno–Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, near Jakarta. As of 11 December 2014, the airline is rated as a 5-star airline by the international airline review firm Skytrax.

Founded in 1949 as KLM Interinsulair Bedrijf, the airline is now one of the world's leading airlines and the 20th member of the global airline alliance SkyTeam. It operates regularly scheduled flights to a large number of destinations in Southeast Asia, East Asia, Australia and Europe from its main hub in Jakarta, Soekarno–Hatta International Airport, as well as services to Australia and Asia from Ngurah Rai International Airport (Bali) and a large number of domestic flights from both Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport (Makassar) and Kualanamu International Airport (Medan).

At its peak in the late 1980s up to the mid 1990s, Garuda operated an extensive network of flights all over the world, with regularly scheduled services to Los Angeles, Paris, Rome and other cities in Europe and Asia. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, a series of financial and operational difficulties hit the airline hard, which included the in-flight murder of a human rights activist by airline staff, causing it to drastically cut back services. In 2009, the airline undertook a five-year modernization plan known as the Quantum Leap, which overhauled the airline's brand, livery, logo and uniforms, as well as newer, more modern aircraft and facilities and a renewed focus on international markets, and earning the airline awards such as Most Improved Airline and World's Best Cabin Crew.

Garuda Indonesia Flight 865

Garuda Indonesia Flight 865 was a scheduled international flight from Fukuoka, Japan, to Jakarta, Indonesia that crashed at takeoff on 13 June 1996.

The crew of the McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 attempted to abort take-off after the failure of the number 3 (right) engine. The abort occurred at speeds nearing V₂, and after rotation of the nose. Following the abort, attempts were made to stop the aircraft on the runway by use of brakes, ground spoilers and thrust reversers, but the crew was unable to stop the aircraft within the boundaries of the runway, which exited the airport property. The captain stated that he feared that the aircraft might hit buildings or objects if he did not abort the takeoff.

In slowing down, the aircraft slid through a ditch, a fence and a road before finally coming to rest approximately 620 metres (2,030 ft) beyond the runway threshold. Damage done to the aircraft during the slide across the ground caused the landing gear to break off and both wing-mounted engines to be torn from the wings. The fuselage broke in two places, at about the wing root trailing edge, and at approximately 10.4 metres (34 ft) aft of the wing root trailing edge. The resultant fire destroyed the areas between the hull fractures, and other areas of the aircraft. Three passengers died as a result.

Indonesia

Coordinates: 5°S 120°E / 5°S 120°E / -5; 120

Indonesia (ⁱ/ˌɪndəˈniːʒə/ IN-də-NEE-zhə or /ˌɪndoʊˈniːziə/ IN-doh-NEE-zee-ə; Indonesian: [ɪndonesia]), officially the Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian: Republik Indonesia [rɛpublik ɪndonesia]), is a sovereign island country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. It is the largest island country in the world by the number of islands, with more than fourteen thousand islands. Indonesia has an estimated population of over 255 million people and is the world's fourth most populous country and the most populous Muslim-majority country. The world's most populous island of Java contains more than half of the country's population.

Indonesia's republican form of government includes an elected legislature and president. Indonesia has 34 provinces, of which five have Special Administrative status. Its capital city is Jakarta. The country shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and the Malaysian Borneo. Other neighbouring countries include Singapore, the Philippines, Australia, Palau, and the Indian territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Indonesia is a founding member of ASEAN and a member of the G-20 major economies. The Indonesian economy is the world's 16th largest by nominal GDP and the 8th largest by GDP at PPP.

Provinces of Indonesia

Indonesian territory is composed of 34 provinces. A province (Indonesian: provinsi) is the highest tier of the local government divisions of Indonesia (Daerah Tingkat I - level I region). Provinces are further divided into regencies and cities (Daerah Tingkat II - level II regions), which are in turn subdivided into districts (kecamatan).

Background

Each province has its own local government, headed by a governor, and has its own legislative body. The governor and members of local representative bodies are elected by popular vote for five-year terms.

Current provinces

Indonesia has 34 provinces, eight of which have been created since 1999, namely: North Maluku, West Papua, Banten, Bangka–Belitung Islands, Gorontalo, Riau Islands Province, West Sulawesi and (in late 2012) North Kalimantan.

Five provinces have special status:

Papua (province)

Papua Province (Indonesian: Provinsi Papua) is the largest and easternmost province of Indonesia. It lies in West Papua region, which comprises the Indonesian, western, half of the island of New Guinea and nearby islands. Papua is bordered by the nation of Papua New Guinea to the east, and by West Papua province to the west. Its capital is Jayapura. It was formerly called Irian Jaya (before that West Irian or Irian Barat) and comprised all of Indonesian New Guinea. In 2002 the current name was adopted and in 2003 West Papua province was created within West Papua region from western parts of Papua province.

Naming

"Papua" is the official Indonesian and internationally recognised name for the province.

During the Dutch colonial era the region was known as part of "Dutch New Guinea" or "Netherlands New Guinea". Since its annexation in 1969, it became known as "West Irian" or "Irian Barat" until 1973, and thereafter renamed "Irian Jaya" (roughly translated, "Glorious Irian") by the Suharto administration. This was the official name until the name "Papua" was adopted in 2002. Today, the indigenous inhabitants of this province prefer to call themselves Papuans.