Malaysia Airlines continues to bleed red ink, posting another quarter of deepening losses in its first reporting quarter since the March 8 disappearance of flight MH370.

The national carrier posted a net loss of RM442 million for the first-quarter of 2014, almost double the same quarter last year after adding almost RM195 million in operating expenses.

In a statement, Malaysia Airlines said the MH370 incident had a "dramatic impact" on its financial performance during the three-month period ended March.

The disappearance of the Boeing 777 aircraft "triggered a major short-term reaction in consumer behaviour, with the airline observing high cancellation of existing bookings and reduction in long haul bookings in favour of short haul bookings," Malaysian Airlines said.

"Sales from China fell some 60 percent in March, soon after the disappearance of the aircraft," added the airline.

On March 8, flight MH370 with 239 passengers and crew bound for Beijing mysteriously disappeared from radar screens. The majority of the passengers on the missing flight were China nationals.

In the two months since, the location of the missing aircraft has been narrowed down to a vast search zone in some of the Indian Ocean's most remote waters off Western Australia.

No physical trace of the aircraft has been found.

Paltry operating revenue growth of 4% as Malaysia Airlines did not keep pace with a massive 19% increase in seat capacity.

Meanwhile, operating expenses increased 6%, mainly due to an increase in fuel cost by 14% from flying more flights and the weakening of the ringgit against the US dollar.

Yield, a measure of average ticket prices, plunged 9% year-on-year "as a result of competition and weakened consumer demand."

The drop in yields widens even further the yield gap between Malaysia Airlines and its international competitors.

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