WELLINGTON, Nov. 5 -- A China Southern Airlines passenger aircraft made an emergency landing at Auckland Airport shortly after taking off on Saturday.

The aircraft, carrying 212 people, had taken off for Guangzhou, in southern China just before 11 a.m., Radio New Zealand reported.

An airport spokesman said in the report that the flight had to turn back because of engine problems and landed safely at 11.35 a.m..

The flightaware.com website showed the aircraft had flown a small circle just after takeoff before doing a wide loop to come back in to land.

An airport spokesperson told Xinhua about an hour after the aircraft landed that all the passengers had disembarked and that all further inquiries should be directed to China Southern Airlines.

Calls to China Southern Airlines' Auckland office went unanswered Saturday.