Malaysia Airlines is to be nationalised pending a restructuring operation, it has been announced.

Trading of shares in the Malaysia Airline System Bhd (MAS) has been suspended and the company announced its withdrawal from the stock market.

Khazanah Nasional, the investment arm of the Malaysian government, has offered to buy back shares at a price 12.5 per cent higher than Thursday's closing price. The state investor already owns 69 per cent of MAS.

A statement from the prime minister's office of Malaysia said: "The government and Khazanah are in the final stages of completing a comprehensive and holistic restructuring plan."

The airline has been reeling from the effects of two major tragedies: the loss of flight MH370, which went missing on March 8th while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, and the missile attack on MH17 over Ukraine.

Malaysia Airlines' market value has fallen by over 40 per cent over the past nine months and it has suffered a 60 per cent drop in sales to China.