Plane wreckage found yesterday on the French island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean awakened speculation over a potential link to a Malaysia Airlines flight that went missing last year with 239 people on board.

The two-metre-long piece of wing was found covered in small shells on the coast near Saint-Andre on the eastern side of the island, local media reports said.

Beijing-bound Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared one hour after take-off from Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014.

The Boeing 777 has never been found and is presumed to have crashed into the sea.

- dpa