* Series of plane accidents seen hitting tourism, airlines
* Malaysia seeks to distance itself from latest incident
* Missing AirAsia flight presumed to have crashed at sea
* Cheap flights could limit impact on company
By Al-Zaquan Amer Hamzah and Rujun Shen
KUALA LUMPUR/SINGAPORE, Dec 29 (Reuters) - 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.
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.
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 travellers have been apprehensive about using Malaysia Airlines over fears that the company was "cursed", and now people are expressing concerns about AirAsia.
"This 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.
"With 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.
Last month the company posted its worst quarterly loss since late 2011, as passenger numbers and average fare yields fell sharply. The airline's passenger numbers dropped 14 percent year-on-year in the July-Sept period.
The company will be delisted from the stock market on Dec. 31 as part of a 6 billion-ringgit ($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.
CHEAP FLIGHTS A MAJOR FACTOR
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.