Reeling from the loss of two long-haul jets in the past five months, and shunned by many travellers, Malaysia Airlines is being taken back under public ownership.
In March, flight MH370 disappeared soon after departing from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing. Despite a multi-national search, no trace has been found of the Boeing 777; it is presumed that the 227 passengers and 12 crew have perished and that the jet is somewhere on the bed of the Indian Ocean.
Last month, another 777 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down over eastern Ukraine. All 283 passengers and 15 crew died when flight MH17 was hit at 33,000 feet by what is widely believed to have been a Russian missile in the hands of separatist rebels.
Not since the terrorist attacks of 9/11 has a single airline lost two aircraft in a short space of time. Malaysia Airlines continues to operate normally, but after the second tragedy it made the unprecedented offer of full refunds to passengers booked to travel in 2014. Tens of thousands of travellers are believed to have cancelled and booked with other airlines.
