Malaysia Airlines, the national airline of Malaysia, faces the risk of closure.

A bleak future after two aviation disasters.

Malaysia Airlines has been working to revive its business after two aviation disasters in 2014. Flight MH370, carrying 239 people (including the crew), disappeared over the Indian Ocean on March 8, 2014, becoming the most mysterious incident in modern civil aviation history.

Subsequently, on July 17 of the same year, flight MH17, also belonging to the same airline, was shot down in eastern Ukrainian airspace, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew members.

The losses from the MH17 tragedy further dragged down Malaysia Airlines' stock price on the stock exchange, falling 18% at the close of trading on July 18, 2014. And from the beginning of 2014 to that point alone, Malaysia Airlines' stock had lost 35% of its value.

In fact, even before the disappearance of flight MH370 on March 8, 2014, the airline had announced its third consecutive year of losses, totaling $1.3 billion. While flight MH370 was still missing, customers had already turned their backs on Malaysia Airlines following the downing of flight MH17 in Ukraine.

In an effort to help Malaysia Airlines overcome its crisis, the state-owned investment fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd, which owns 69% of Malaysia Airlines, has acquired the entire company and invested an additional 6 billion ringgit (US$1.5 billion) in the airline. Malaysia Airlines has been reeling from two aviation disasters in 2014.

However, five years after the disaster, the airline is still struggling to recover while trying to become profitable. Khazanah Nasional Bhd's 2018 financial report showed the fund suffered a loss of more than 6.27 billion ringgit (over $1.5 billion USD), half of which was due to Malaysia Airlines.

The government will decide the future of Malaysia Airlines.

The Malaysian Prime Minister told reporters last week that he is studying the best options for Malaysia Airlines, including recapitalization, sale, or complete closure.

"The closure of the national airline is a very important issue. This will be decided by the government. We have to decide soon," Bloomberg quoted Mahathir as saying.

The considerations of Prime Minister Mahathir's government come as the global aviation industry is reeling from the March 10th Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed 157 people. The Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX crashed just minutes after takeoff.

Although Malaysia Airlines currently does not have any Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in its fleet, it expects to receive deliveries of these aircraft in 2020.

Malaysian Economy Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali said that the state investment fund Khazanah Nasional BHD needs to reconsider the 2016 agreement to purchase 50 737 MAX aircraft (worth US$5.5 billion) from Boeing by Malaysia Airlines following the disaster in Ethiopia last weekend.

According to Azmin Ali, the aforementioned issue is urgent and needs to be addressed by Khazanah Nasional Bhd to ensure the safety of the airline's customers. The minister further emphasized that the government is closely monitoring the investigation into the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft accidents.

“Scenarios for Malaysia Airlines are being discussed at various meetings, including those involving the airline’s leadership and Khazanah Nasional Bhd,” Azmin Ali told reporters on March 12. He also said the airline could explore new markets from Indonesia and Thailand to support its recovery strategy.

Nga Nguyen