KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian, Australian and Chinese governments have agreed to expand the search zone for the missing flight MH370 by 60,000 sq km should nothing be found in the current search zone in the southern Indian Ocean.

That would cover an area about as big as the size of England's land mass.

This was confirmed at a press conference on Thursday (Apr 16) by Malaysia Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai, together with representatives from China and Australia. Ministers from Malaysia, China and Australia held a tripartite meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday to discuss the next phase of the search.

"Malaysia, China and Australia are committed to the search for MH370," said Mr Liow.

"The search is continuing based on expert analysis that will cover a combined area of 120,000 sq km. Thereby, covering 95 per cent of the aircraft flight path," he added.

Australia Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said that the search area was in a very "inhospitable country", but added that the countries remained "optimistic" of finding the plane and getting answers in the next few months, while using the "best equipment in the world".

"We need to understand how the incident occurred and how to prevent it from happening again," said Mr Truss.

Giving an update to the search, Mr Truss said that the were only 60 per cent through the first phase of the search. He added that circumstances in the new search area are expected to be similar, the same equipment will be used in the search, and that the whole search will take at least the rest of the year.

China transport minister Yang Chuantang added that there will be no let up in the search for MH370: "We are not giving up on the search, and will sacrifice all resources necessary to find the plane and answers. The future search will bring new challenges, but we must continue to search for the plane. China will continue to cooperate with Australia and Malaysia to find the plane's location, so we can give the families of passengers and crew some answers."

China has committed to deploying more safety experts in the search, as well as more vessels, added Mr Yang.

"THERE WILL BE EXTRA COST"

Mr Liow admitted that expanding the search area will mean that extra costs will be incurred.

"Australia, Malaysia and China have been sharing the cost, and will continue to do that," added Mr Truss. He said that the expanded search is expected to cost less due to the mobilisation cost involved in the first phase, and that the "financial commitment is there to match" the expanded search efforts.

Mr Liow said A$120 million was committed by Malaysia and Australia for the first phase of the search, and the next phase is likely to cost A$50 million.

The expansion was earlier revealed on Thursday (Apr 16) in an email seen by Channel NewsAsia to next-of-kin of those on board the Malaysia Airlines flight.

This additional 60,000 sq km would complete the 120,000 sq km search area identified by experts as the potential location of the missing plane. The news has been welcomed by family members who feared the search would be called off.

The flight disappeared from radar screens on Mar 8, 2014, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, with 239 people on board.

An interim report on the MH370 disappearance found no conclusive evidence on what happened to the plane. That makes it too soon to look ahead if the wider search comes up blank as well, the ministers said.