KUALA LUMPUR, July 19 — Crippled by two disasters within five months, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) appears headed for the scrap heap but two aviation experts believe the national carrier might just survive financially.

“The airline can survive because of its significance to the Malaysian economy and tourism and it does have effectively a Government backstop,” Bob Mann, a New York aviation consultant who worked for the airline was quoted saying in a report last night by UK daily, The Telegraph.

Earlier this month, international news wire Reuters reported Khazanah Nasional Bhd — which owns 69 per cent of MAS — had planned to restructure the ailing airline by taking it private though the state-owned investment firm has since called the anonymous claims speculative.

The high stakes that will decide MAS’ future, it would seem, hinges on Putrajaya’s political willpower.

“It was an airline which was barely surviving after the first incident let alone the second," Seth Kaplan, the managing partner of Airline Weekly, was quoted saying by The Telegraph in the same report.

“Of course it can survive, but it becomes a political decision for the Malaysian Government,” he added.

Others, however, were less optimistic.

The Telegraph reported that many other airlines that have undergone circumstances similar to MAS have folded, citing as example Pan Am following the 1988 Lockerbie disaster.

“Malaysia Airlines to lose two aircraft, and over 500 passengers within six months is devastating.

“It has been losing money as an airline for a considerable amount of time. Many other airlines have ceased to exist in similar circumstances,” aviation lawyer James Healy-Pratt told the daily.

Reuters also reported attempts to restructure MAS have been politically fraught, highlighting strong opposition from the airline’s powerful labour union fearing job cuts.

MAS, already in the red for the past three consecutive years, bled a further RM443.4 million in the first quarter of this year, after losing RM1.17 billion last year.

The airlines’ executives attributed the loss to the March 8 disappearance of Beijing-bound flight MH370, which resulted in massive ticket cancellations.

Industry experts predict ticket sales for MAS will plunge further following the July 17 crash, pointing out the incredibly competitive market connecting Europe and Asia.

Add to that, Malaysia’s aged fleet of Boeing 777-200ERs, used in long-haul flights, which average at 14-years-old according to airfleets.com, put them among the world’s oldest.

“They will need to get people onto the plane. My gut feeling is there will be a lot of business and leisure customers who are not prepared to fly with them in any way shape or form,” an unnamed industry expert was quoted telling The Telegraph.

Flight MH17, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down by a surface-to-air missile over strife-torn east Ukraine Thursday, killing all 298 people on board.

MAS shares traded at 18.5 sen when the market closed Friday, nearing its lifetime low of 15 sen.