Garuda Indonesia caused by the lack of airport infrastructure in smaller cities and remote areas, such as insufficient runway length that mostly less than 1,600 meters. In line with its "Quantum Leap" plan, Garuda Indonesia ordered brand-new Bombardier CRJ1000 and ATR 72 to reach smaller airports from Garuda's hubs like Ngurah Rai International Airport, Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport, and Kualanamu International Airport. On 25 November 2013, Garuda Indonesia has launched its new sub-brands "Explore" and "Explore-jet", for servicing "perintis" ("pioneer") lines traditionally served by other airlines — (dormant) Merpati Nusantara Airlines and also its competitor Wings Air. On 5 March 2014, Garuda
Garuda Indonesia Flight 152 are brought to A310 standards, including the addition of electronic flight instrumentation. The two pilots aboard the accident flight were qualified to fly both the FFCC and the -600 model, however the adequacy of their conversion training between the two would later be called into question. At approximately 1:00pm, air traffic controllers in Medan cleared Flight 152 for an ILS approach into Runway 05 from its current 316 degree heading. The crew, led by Captain Rahmo Wiyogo, 42, a pilot with over 20 years of flying experience at Garuda Indonesia and more than 12,000 flying hours, and First Officer Tata