Prime Minister Tony Abbott says his Malaysian counterpart has accepted an offer of two RAAF aircraft to help search for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet.

Six Australians and two New Zealanders, one who lives in Perth, are feared dead after the Boeing 777-200 disappeared over the South China Sea early on Saturday morning, two hours into what should have been a six-hour flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Authorities are examining links to terrorism, with two of the flight’s 239 passengers found to be using stolen passports.

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“This afternoon I spoke to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to convey Australia’s condolences on the loss of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 and offer our assistance with the search for the missing aircraft,” Mr Abbott said in a statement late on Sunday.

“Prime Minister Najib has accepted this offer.”

Two RAAF P-3C long-range maritime surveillance aircraft will join the search operation.

The first Orion leaves for the search area from Darwin on Sunday night, while the second will be sent as soon as possible.

– with AAP