The flight, listed on tracking websites as an Airbus A330, left Sydney en route to Kuala Lumpur but turned back and landed in the southern Australian city of Melbourne.

"They had some kind of problem with their map navigation display system in the cockpit," a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Safety Authority told AFP.

The long-haul, low-cost Malaysian airline confirmed the diversion but was unable to immediately say how many people were on board the flight.

"There was a technical difficulty," an airline spokesman said. 

"The plane has now been rectified and has now been cleared for take-off."

Air Services Australia, which oversees the country's air traffic control, said it understood that Flight XAX223 diverted to Melbourne rather than return to Sydney because the weather was better.

The Malaysian group suffered its first fatal incident in late December, when AirAsia Flight QZ8501 crashed in stormy weather with 162 people on board off Indonesia.

That followed two Malaysia Airlines incidents last year which left more than 500 people dead, raising concerns among some travellers about the safety of the country's carriers. (+++++)

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