Miscommunication between a Spanish airline pilot and Dutch ground control has caused a hijack scare that led the Netherlands to send F-16 fighters to intercept a Spanish passenger jet.

The Veuling flight, from Malaga in Spain, was surrounded by Dutch security forces upon landing at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, with Dutch police reporting a 'possible hijacking'.

But a spokeswoman for Vueling said the reports that the plane had been hijacked were due to a miscommunication between the pilot and the control tower.

"The plane approached the airport in an unusual way. This led to a miscommunication between the pilot and the control-tower", she said.

Dutch media have reported that police also confirmed the incident was sparked by a miscommunication.

Media outlets have also quoted passengers who were speaking from inside the plane via mobile phone as denying they had been hijacked.

"There is nothing going on in here," one passenger told Dutch national news agency NOS during a live broadcast.

The incident came as Schiphol, Europe's fifth-largest airport, was coping with flight cancellations and delays after workers found a bomb dating back to World War II.

Security personnel evacuated part of Terminal C as a precaution, while explosives experts tackled the bomb.

The military police, who are responsible for protecting key points like airports and other border sites, could not say how long it would take the bomb disposal teams to finish the job.

Between 120,000 and 140,000 passengers pass daily through Schiphol, which was bombed at least twice during World War II, first by the Luftwaffe during the German invasion in May 1940 and again by the Allies in December 1943.

Reuters/AFP