KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 28 — Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAS) said the southerly route that Flight MH132 took to go from New Zealand to Kuala Lumpur was an “approved flight path”, but was investigating the mix-up.

Responding to reports over the deviation that left the pilot of the Christmas Day flight out from Auckland perplexed, MAS said the error was due to the plane and air traffic controllers being given conflicting flight plans, with the latter receiving an outdated version.

“Both routes were following an approved flight path and the aircraft had enough fuel for both routes,” it said in a statement yesterday. “The safety of both passengers and crew were never compromised at any time.”

“Malaysia Airlines is currently conducting its investigation in the flight plan submission.”

The Malaysian carrier insisted that it strictly observes all safety procedures and regulations, adding that safety was the airline’s utmost priority.

Reports emerged yesterday that Flight MH132 began turning south after taking off from Auckland Airport, and appeared to be headed for Melbourne, Australia rather than its intended destination of Kuala Lumpur.

The pilot of Flight MH132 noticed the Airbus A330’s strange heading and immediately contacted Auckland Oceanic’s air traffic controllers, who provided the original flight path logged with Airways, the air traffic manager for flights in New Zealand and the South Pacific.

Peter Clark, the head of New Zealand’s aviation regulator, commended the airline’s pilot for spotting the error quickly and resolving the problem instead of “blindly flying off and ending up in the Southern Ocean”.

The Malaysian flag carrier suffered two major aviation disasters last year, first with the disappearance of MH370 en route from KL to Beijing in March, and then, the downing of MH17 that was flying from Amsterdam to Malaysia. A total of 577 lives were lost in both incidents.

The search is still ongoing for the missing MH370, which is thought to be somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean.