There is still no trace of the aircraft which vanished early on Saturday, 88 hours after its disappearance, said a spokesman for Malaysian Airlines in Beijing on Tuesday.

Rescue efforts are ongoing, covering eastern and western parts of peninsular Malaysia, but there is "no finding of the aircraft," said the spokesman, at a press conference in a hotel near Beijing Capital Airport.

A total of 42 vessels and 35 aircraft from various countries have joined the rescue mission, and are fairly distributed between eastern and western sides of the peninsula.