Malaysia Airlines (MAS) will waive the change fee on passengers who wish to make changes to their itinerary to any MH destination.

In a statement, the national carrier said in light of the MH17 incident, passengers who wished to postpone or cancel their travel plans could obtain a refund, including for non refundable tickets.

It added that Enrich passengers would also receive fee waivers for any change to their travel itinerary, as well as, refunds of miles should they choose to cancel their redemption tickets.

"Malaysia Airlines deeply regrets the loss of MH17 and is very much appreciative of the support from our passengers," it said, adding that the waivers were only applicable from July 18 until July 24, for the travel period between July 18, 2014 until Dec 31, 2014.

It said passengers who wanted to make changes to their travel plans could contact the nearest ticketing office or call MAS' global call center at 1-300-88-3000.

MH17 was carrying 283 passengers and 15 crew members from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed in Ukraine, near the Russian border.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on Friday said that Ukraine authorities believed the aircraft was shot down.

The flight left Amsterdam at 12.15pm (Amsterdam time) on Thursday and was expected to arrive at KLIA at 6.10pm (Malaysian time) on Friday.