Flight 148 from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur landed without incident or injury, airport spokeswoman Anna Gillett said.
βThe pilot called an emergency landing and as standard procedure when a pilot calls any sort of emergency landing, emergency personnel are currently on site, Gillett said shortly after the landing.
The airline said in a statement that a preliminary inspection of the aircraft revealed no external physical evidence of a fire.
Airservices Australia was told that an engine fire warning light had activated in the cockpit soon after takeoff, but could not confirm whether that was a malfunction or whether there had been a fire, a spokesman said on condition of anonymity, citing agency policy.
The plane had dumped fuel south of Melbourne as a safety precaution before landing, he said.
The troubled state-owned airline lost two airliners in disasters last year