Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has postponed his official visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar scheduled from Saturday to Wednesday.

The Prime Minister's Office said in a statement that Najib wished to remain in Malaysia to continue overseeing the search for a missing Malaysian airliner.

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared suddenly while on its way to Beijing on Saturday morning shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur.

The plane was carrying 12 crew and 227 passengers, 153 of them Chinese nationals.

A multinational search now into its seventh day has yet to find any trace of the plane.