KOTA BARU (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Mr Fariq Abdul Hamid, the first officer of the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370, was planning to marry a fellow pilot from another airline.

A report in the Sabah-based Daily Express said that Captain Nadira Ramli, 26, who is attached with AirAsia, is a daughter of a senior Malaysia Airlines pilot.

She is now with Mr Fariq's distraught mother at an undisclosed hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

The Daily Express and several news portals claimed that Ms Nadira had been given a month's leave to enable her to weather her sadness over her 27-year-old boyfriend's disappearance with 11 other crew members and 227 passengers on board the missing aircraft.

Both had studied at the Langkawi pilot school and had known each other for nine years.

The paper added that Ms Nadira was the youngest child of Captain Ramli Ibrahim and Nancy Jipanis of Penampang in Sabah.

The daily quoted a relative in Kota Kinabalu as saying Ms Nadira was calm, acting as the pillar of strength to Mr Fariq's mother.

Nancy and her husband were reportedly upset with the press and social media for churning "all sorts of stories" about the missing jet.

The daily said Mr Fariq, the youngest son of Selangor public works department deputy director Abdul Hamid Mad Daud, had intended to marry Ms Nadira soon.

Local press here attempted to interview Mr Fariq's uncle, Aziz Daud, 47, at his home in Bunut Susu, Pasir Mas, on Sunday but was politely refused.

He had been advised by Malaysia Airlines and the relevant government ministries to not speak to the press, Mr Aziz said.

However, Mr Fariq's cousin, who declined to be named, said the pilot never went to school in Kelantan as he was brought up in Kuala Lumpur.