Malaysia Airlines sees yields falling due to competition

Radiation risk A potentially graver, but less likely, peril is elevated cancer risk from exposure to radiation outside Earth's protective magnetosphere.

Spaceships have built-in protection against radiation, which is hundreds of times higher than on Earth.

Radiation doses for a short trip like

Technical problem The main danger to space tourists, observers agree, is spacecraft failure.

"In my view, the biggest risks are technical failure on blastoff, during the voyage, or on reentry into Earth's atmosphere," said Martin Giard of France's National Institute for Earth Sciences

Unknowns Up to now, said Grant, only extremely healthy people, "basically perfect humans," have been sent to space after months of training and health checks.

"With space tourism, you're going to start seeing some unhealthy people getting sent into space. If they need to be on medication or they have illnesses in the background, we don't know how they react in space because we've never seen that before."

For most, the payoff far outweighs the risks.

"There are of course, a lot of risks," said Berger. "It doesn't mean you have to scare people. But it is always necessary to inform everybody about possible risks, and this starts with the risk of sitting on a rocket."

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia Airlines Bhd said it expects a decline in passenger yields in the second half of this year due to competition and a weak domestic currency, as the national carrier works to return to profitability by 2018.

The airline also said it would continue to focus on cost control, and that it has identified 400 million ringgit ($89.99 million) worth of cost reductions for 2017 to offset strength in the US dollar.

"We expect yields to decline in the second half of the year due to irrational competition but our focus will be on reducing costs to maintain our financial position," the airline said in a statement.

Passenger yields refers to the average fare paid per mile, per customer.

"We have delivered a solid 2016 but a weak Malaysian ringgit, overcapacity in the Malaysian market and any potential price war will make 2017 a challenging year," it said.

The airline said 2016 ended 49 percent ahead of its budgeted loss. It did not specify amounts but previously said it expected to book a loss.

It recorded an 11 percentage-point increase in its load factor – or capacity used – to 81 percent in the OctoberDecember quarter, as bookings increased.

The carrier has been struggling to turn around its business since 2014 when flight MH370 disappeared in what remains a mystery, and flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine.

It also said it may seek wide-body aircraft from either Airbus Group SE or Boeing Co. for introduction in the first quarter of 2018, to increase its number of seats and improve quality on existing routes.

The airline previously targeted a return to profitability by 2018 and stock market listing the year after.