A Philippine Airlines Airbus jet with more than 130 people on board made a successful emergency landing on Friday after a smoke detector triggered an alarm, a spokeswoman for the carrier said.

The A321-231 jet returned to Davao airport in the country's south 26 minutes after taking off there for Manila and all its 131 passengers disembarked safely, PAL spokeswoman Maria Cielo Villaluna said.

"The pilots noticed that the aircraft's 'cargo smoke warning' was activated, prompting them to carry out the required procedures to extinguish any smoke," she said in a statement.

"The aircraft is undergoing technical evaluation, assessment and investigation," she added.

It was not immediately known if there was any evidence of smoke.