Maarten de Jonge is lucky to be alive - twice over.

De Jonge, a Dutch cyclist, was scheduled to be on both doomed Malaysia Airlines flights MH370 and MH17. On both occasions, he switched his tickets at the last minute.

The 29-year old rider for the Terengganu cycling team in Malaysia was supposed to take MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Taiwan. He was due to compete in a race.

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De Jonge, however, decided to switch his ticket at the last minute because he wanted to avoid a stopover in Beijing and left on a different flight an hour earlier.

Since its disappearance last March, MH370 has yet to be found.

After competing and finishing in 35th place in the National Championship Road Race in the Netherlands last month, De Jonge was planning to fly back to Kuala Lumpur on MH17, but decided against it because he wanted to save money by taking a flight through Frankfurt instead.

Officials announced that 298 people were killed in MH17 after it was struck by a missile along the Russia-Ukrain border. Of the passengers killed, 189 were Dutch citizens.

De Jonge shared that he has been bombarded with interview requests from different media outlets since he tweeted about his mind-numbing luck.

However, he shared that he has decided to stop talking about his story in respect for those who weren't as lucky.

According to De Jonge, "it's inconceivable" that he managed to cheat death twice. He stated that he felt very lucky and happy, but feels very sorry for the passengers and their families.

"From reverence for the victims and their families, I do not think it [is] appropriate to tell my story," de Jonge said, " [My story] is ultimately nothing compared to the misery so many people are [experiencing]. Attention should be paid to the victims and survivors. Wishing everyone affected by this disaster a lot of strength."

TagsMaarten de Jonge, Malaysian Airlines, MH17, mh370, National Championship Road Race, netherlands