KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: The Perth international airport had to be closed and vacated for almost 12 hours on Saturday following the discovery of three suspicious packages onboard a Malaysia Airlines flight.

More than 3,000 travellers and staff had to be evacuated to a safe place 2km from the affected building in the 6pm incident.

Flight MH125 departed the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Saturday and arrived in Perth at 2.45pm.

The drama began when cargo workers discovered three packages lacking information about their contents.

They alerted the police, who dispatched the bomb disposal unit. Authorities ordered the closure of the airport and evacuation measures to conduct checks.

The search took about 10 hours before authorities were satisfied that the boxes did not contain dangerous material.

The airport was reopened yesterday at 5.30am.

Meanwhile, Bernama reports that Malaysia Airlines Cargo (MASkargo) said the cargo consignment had undergone all stringent regulatory and safety requirements of IATA, US Customs, US Transportation Security Administration, Malaysian Department of Civil Aviation and other authorities.

The shipment was examined and put through the X-ray screening machine, where no suspicious contents were detected, and placed in the secure part of the warehouse for 24 hours before they were flown to Perth.

MASkargo managing director Shahari Sulaiman said: "We do not take safety and security lightly at MASkargo. Our standard of operations emphasises strict adherence to rules and regulations and we observe these requirements at all times."