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hina is offering its assets to help search for AirAsia flight QZ8501, which went missing on Sunday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement in Beijing on Monday.

'€œWe are offering our assistance '€” aircraft and vessels '€” to help search and rescue operations for the AirAsia incident,'€ the ministry said as quoted by Antara news agency in Jakarta on Monday.

It said China was also offering other kinds of help in line with what Indonesia needed to support its search operations.

A plane belonging to Indonesia AirAsia, 49 percent owned by Malaysia-based budget carrier AirAsia, vanished on Sunday on a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore. There were 162 people on board flight QZ8501, which is presumed to have crashed at sea.

Seven countries '€” Australia, Canada, France, India, South Korea, the UK and the US '€” have offered to help Indonesia in searching for the missing plane.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said Indonesia had coordinated with friendly countries offering to help in the search for the missing aircraft.

Four countries, namely Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea, have been permitted to take part in the search operations.

Reuters reported that what appears to be a third air disaster involving a Malaysian carrier in less than a year has further dented confidence in the country'€™s aviation industry and spooked air travellers across the region.

Malaysia'€™s only other airline, Malaysia Airlines (MAS), was involved in twin air disasters this year with flight MH370 disappearing over the southern Indian Ocean in March and MH17 being shot down over Ukraine a few months later.

Many travelers have been apprehensive about using Malaysia Airlines over fears that the company was '€œcursed'€, and now people are expressing concerns about AirAsia.

'€œThis is a bit unsettling, because of how many times it'€™s happened to us. It looks like a Malaysia problem now,'€ said Daniel Lim, a 26-year-old financial executive who flew on two domestic Malaysian AirAsia flights in the past week.

'€œWith MAS, I thought it was the exception, but this is the third incident and I'€™m a bit worried about flying on any Malaysian airline now.'€

Hong Leong Investment Bank said in a research note that following the MH370 and MH17 incidents, the case of AirAsia QZ8501 is likely to have a deep impact on demand for air travel in the region.

Malaysia Airlines has already been severely affected.

The company will be delisted from the stock market on Dec. 31 as part of a 6 billion-ringgit (US$1.8 billion) government-led restructuring to revive its fortunes.

Shares in AirAsia were down over 8.5 percent at the end of trade on Monday.

Malaysia, Southeast Asia'€™s third-largest economy, is known internationally as a culinary haven with pristine beaches hours from the capital Kuala Lumpur.

This year'€™s earlier air disasters had only a short-term impact on Malaysia'€™s tourism industry, which accounts for 13 percent of gross domestic product, although the AirAsia case could further deter travellers from using domestic airlines.