By Jonathan Davies

The Malaysian government has announced plans to create a new airline in a $1.5bn (£1bn) deal.

flymojo will be based in the south and east of the country. The Malaysian government has already ordered 20 Bombardier aircraft, with the option to purchase another 20, taking the deal to $2.9bn.

The new airline comes after Malaysia Airlines fell into in financial meltdown following three disasters in the space of a year.

In March 2014, flight MH370 disappeared during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing - no trace has yet been found of the plane nor its passengers.

Then in July, flight MH17 was shot down over pro-Russian rebel held territory in eastern Ukraine.

Aziz Kaprawi, deputy minister of transport, said flymojo would play a key role in improving air travel links between Malaysian Peninsula and other parts of Asia.

"As the only airline utilising the southern corridor as its headquarters, flymojo will transform Senai [Johor Bahru's airport] into a key regional aviation and logistics hub - augmenting the government's initiatives in developing Iskandar Malaysia and the southern corridor," he said in a statement by Bombardier.