Aircraft
Following its maiden flight in 1949, Garuda Indonesia, previously named "Garuda Indonesian Airways", expanded its fleet. The service began with a Douglas DC-3 Dakota and a PBY Catalina.
The name "Garuda" was given President Soekarno, which he quoted from a Dutch poem composed by a popular poets that time, Noto Soeroto; "Ik ben Garuda, Vishnoe's vogel, die zijn vleugels uitslaat hoog bovine uw einladen", meaning "I am Garuda, Vishnoe's bird which spread its wing high above your archipelago".