The team co-ordinating the search for missing flight MH370 has downplayed comments by Prime Minister Tony Abbott, in which he said the position of the black box flight recorders had been narrowed to "within some kilometres".

A spokeswoman for the Joint Agency Co-ordination Centre, headed by former Defence chief Angus Houston, said the overall search area remained at 46,713 square kilometres, as the JACC advised earlier on Friday morning.

"That hasn’t changed," the spokeswoman said in response to questions about the veracity of Mr Abbott’s comments.

She said the latest information on the status of the search was contained in a statement from the JACC. She would not define the specific search area for the black boxes.