Melbourne: A Malaysia Airlines passenger jet on Friday made an emergency landing at an airport in Australia's Melbourne city after a false alert about an engine fire.

A cockpit warning light in the Airbus A330, which had only just taken off en route to Kuala Lumpur, lit up and forced the pilots to turn back and make an emergency landing, The Age daily reported.

The plane - MH148 - landed amid the presence of several emergency vehicles, but on investigation, no fire was found in the engine, an Australian Transport Safety Bureau spokesman said.

There were no reports of any injuries. The jet was carrying 300 passengers and crew who remained onboard as the plane was towed across to another area.

The passengers were later given the option of staying in a hotel or taking another flight onwards to Kuala Lumpur.

"There was not much panic, because there was nothing scary and the pilot kept saying it was under control," one passenger said.

In a statement released on Twitter, Malaysia Airlines said the aircraft had been grounded and was being investigated. An airport spokesperson said no other flight had been affected and the airport was operating as normal.