A Burmese airliner carrying 63 passengers has made an emergency landing in the country's north-east, killing two people and injuring 11 others.

A spokesman for Air Bagan said the Fokker 100 jet landed about three kilometres short of Heho airport in Shan state.

Air Bagan said a Burmese tour guide on board the plane was killed. Earlier the information ministry said an 11-year-old had died but the airline said it was not aware of any child fatality.

Another person was killed when the plane struck a motorbike on a road near the airport.

The plane was carrying 63 passengers, 51 of whom were foreigners. Four foreigners and the pilot were among the injured.

The exact circumstances of the incident are not immediately clear, but a government official said a fire was reported in one of the engines as it approached the airport around 9.00am (local time) Tuesday.

"Because of the emergency landing near the airport, the plane broke up in the middle," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that passengers were evacuated.

A local tour guide waiting at the airport for passengers on the Air Bagan flight to arrive said the fire had "burnt almost the whole plane".

Heho airport is the gateway to the popular tourist destination of Inle Lake.

Air Bagan is one of several domestic carriers seeking to profit from a tourist boom in Burma as it emerges from decades of military rule.

It is owned by Tay Za, a tycoon known for his close links to the former junta.

The airline operates two Fokker 100 jets, which are no longer manufactured.

AFP/Reuters