The hunt for more wreckage from the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 has resumed on Reunion island in the Indian Ocean after being suspended since Friday.

A plane circled overhead and foot patrols combed the eastern coastline of the island on Sunday, resuming a search that had been suspended on Friday night.

“Navy units and police will be mobilised only if debris is found at sea,” the local government office said in a statement.

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A ship used for the search on Friday was forced to turn back due to rough weather.

A wing part was found on Reunion in late July and confirmed by the Malaysian Prime Minister to be part of the Boeing 777 which went missing on March 8, 2014 with 239 people onboard.

The search party was using a small military transport plane for the hunt, and also has three police and navy helicopters and three boats at their disposal.

The plane searched a 5300 square-kilometre zone of the coastal region and sea east of the island on Friday.

Searches are also being carried out on nearby Mauritius.