The late 1990s and early 2000s would prove to be a turbulent and difficult time for the airline; two separate accidents in Fukuoka in 1996 and Medan in 1997 added to the problems being caused by the 1997 Asian financial crisis, resulting in a drastic reduction in operations, including the termination of service to the Americas and a massive scaling back of its European operations. Largely due to historical links with the Netherlands, Garuda continued to operate flights to Amsterdam after the initial cutbacks. The other European routes continued were Frankfurt and London. However the flights to Frankfurt and London were discontinued in 2003. While the Amsterdam route was discontinued on 28 October 2004. The situation was exacerbated by the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in the U.S., the Bali bombings, the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, and the SARS scare, all of which contributed to a downturn in air travel and Indonesian tourism. As a result, its earlier order for the Boeing 777 was deferred, and so was an order for 18 Boeing 737-800s to replace its ageing 737 Classic fleet. However, by 2005, the airline had largely recovered from its economic problems, swapping its order for six Boeing 777-200ERs for 10 Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners in 2005, but its operational problems would remain.