DHAKA: Malaysia Airlines is set to be nationalised in a bid to rescue the company still reeling after the MH17 and MH370 tragedies which cost 537 lives.

Malaysian state wealth fund Khazanah National said on Friday that it planned to buy out minority shareholders in the company, in which it already has a 69 per cent stake, in the first stage of a 'complete overhaul' of the loss-making airline, reports the Daily Mail Online on Sunday.

The report added that there have been suggestions that the struggling company, which would be delisted from the Malaysia stock exchange, could also be renamed as part of the £1.4billion takeover.

Khazanah said the state takeover will represent the first stage of a 'complete overhaul' of the loss-making airline, and that detailed plans will be announced by the end of this month.

The company said that the plan would 'require all parties to work closely together' in order to once again make the national airline a profitable business.

For years the airline has struggled to compete with the growth of regional and international airlines and this year's devastating disasters have only added to its financial woes.

Flight 370 disappeared mysteriously in March with 239 people on board after diverging from its planned route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The plane has still not been found, with a search in the southern Indian Ocean underway. The airline was widely criticised for its handling of the crisis.

Last month, 298 people were killed when Flight 17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine as it flew from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

Before the disasters, the carrier's financial performance was among the worst in the industry, raising questions over its future even before the tragedies.

Some analysts last month said the airline would not survive a year without a substantial cash injection from the Malaysian government.

BDST: 1138 HRS, AUG 10, 2014