SYDNEY - Relieved Jetstar passengers praised their quick-thinking captain on Friday as they arrived safely in Australia after a mid-air blaze forced their flight from Japan to make an emergency landing.

Some 203 passengers and crew flew into Queensland early on Friday, nearly 24 hours after the cockpit fire forced the budget airline's Airbus A330 to divert to the remote Pacific island of Guam.

The incident came just days after an Air France A330 went down over the Atlantic, killing all 228 on board. The reason for that disaster has not been established.

"I think the Air France flight really was in the forefront of everyone's minds," passenger Mary Bowden told Sky News.

Captain Ray Banfield was hailed as a hero after he calmly put out the blaze with a fire extinguisher, raised the alarm and headed for Guam in an overnight drama played out at 37,000 feet (11,000 metres).

Few of the passengers were aware of what was happening in the cockpit with the only indication a "weird, burning smell," one traveller told public broadcaster ABC.

"He did say what had happened when we landed. I was so happy not to have that said to me, that the cabin was on fire, when we were up there!" Bowden said.

Bruce Buchanan, CEO of Jetstar - an offshoot of national flag-carrier Qantas - praised the reactions of Banfield, a 14-year veteran who reportedly described the experience as "terrifying."

"The captain's reacted very quickly," Buchanan said. "He's got the extinguisher, extinguished the fire and he's safely landed the aircraft in Guam after calling an emergency.

"Real credit to the crew, I think they reacted very well."

Initial suspicions focused on a cockpit window heating system which may have malfunctioned, in one of several problems affecting A330s recently.

As well as the Air France tragedy, two A330s were forced into unscheduled landings in Russia and Spain within 24 hours of the Guam emergency.

"The crew were good - the pilots handled it," another Jetstar passenger said. Flight JQ20 was nearly four hours into its flight from Osaka to Gold Coast when the fire broke out.