CHENNAI: An Air Arabian Airlines flight bound for Abu Dhabi had to make an emergency landing around 30 minutes after taking off from Chennai airport following a mechanical malfunction.

The flight had taken off from the city airport at 5.09 am with 168 passengers and 10 crew members on board. Upon noticing the malfunction, the pilot alerted the air traffic control at Chennai airport, diverted the flight back, and made an emergency landing at around 5.45 am.

After the aircraft landed safely, the passengers were evacuated and accommodated in airport lounges. Later, the technical malfunction was resolved by the engineering team, and the flight took off again at 9 am after a delay of four hours.