Malaysia Airlines confirmed that the plane landed safely at 4.56pm. All passengers have been accommodated at a hotel and rebooked on a new flight departing at 9am tomorrow, the airline said.

Two flight tracking websites showed the plane taking off from KLIA at about 3.30pm and then circling over the Straits of Melaka before landing safely.

AstroAwani reported that flight MH156 was carrying 259 pilgrims from two different agencies who were heading to Jeddah to perform the umrah (minor pilgrimage).

It said a passenger claimed that the plane experienced turbulence during takeoff and circled for about two hours before returning to KLIA.

Two Malaysia Airlines flights have made emergency landings recently. On June 20, a Malaysia Airlines flight with over 100 passengers bound for Kuala Lumpur made an emergency landing at Hyderabad airport in India due to an engine problem. On June 24, a Bangkok-bound flight returned to KLIA after experiencing a pressurisation issue.