The police bomb squad was called out to investigate a suspicious package found on a plane that has landed at the Auckland International Airport this morning, an emergency services spokesman said.
Five fire crews were on standby at the airport where the police bomb squad was called to about 9.10am, fire service shift manager Scott Osmand said.
"There is an aircraft that's landed with a suspicious package on board. The aircraft has landed and is being unloaded," Mr Osmand said.
An Auckland Airport spokeswoman said the Qantas flight had taken off for Sydney before information that a suspicious package was on board forced it to return to Auckland.
Qantas spokeswoman Jacqui Kempler said flight QF142 was turned back to Auckland about 90 minutes into its journey.
All passengers were evacuated and held together at a secure gate at the terminal, Ms Kempler said.
The bomb squad has now stood down from its investigation, with police saying the suspicious item "turned out to be part of the interior of the aircraft that is not normally visible".
In a statement, police said the incident had been "resolved and there is no further police involvement".
Ms Kempler said information that a suspicious package was on board had come through the Qantas operations centre during the flight and would have been reported by either cabin crew or the captain.
The airport spokeswoman said the aircraft, believed to be a Boeing 737, was separated on the tarmac from all other planes.
She said no other flights or areas of the airport were affected.
