The plane plunged into the Mediterranean sea 20 kilometres east of the French city of Perpignan, near the border with Spain, at around 4.30am NZT.
One body has been recovered at sea, a spokesman for the Pyrenees-Orientales prefecture, in southwestern France said.
He said the plane was an Air New Zealand aircraft.
Today is the 29th anniversary of the airline's biggest disaster, when Flight TE901 crashed into Mt Erebus while on scenic trip over Antarctica. All 257 people on board died.
There were seven people on the Airbus flight which left from Perpignan airport, said First Officer Sandrine Parro of the Regional Operational Center for Monitoring and Rescue (CROSS) for the Mediterranean.
Five launches, two helicopters and a patrol airplane have been dispatched to the area of the crash, Officer Parro told The Associated Press.
"The fuselage has been located. The rescue operations will determine if there are any survivors," she added.
