India, June 16 -- An Air India Express flight operating from Kannur to Jeddah returned to its departure airport on Tuesday after the pilot detected a technical issue during the journey.

The aircraft, carrying more than 180 passengers, landed safely, news agency PTI reported citing airport sources.

The flight had departed from Kannur airport at 7.40 am and was en route to Jeddah when the pilots identified the problem. Around two hours into the journey, they decided to discontinue the flight and head back to Kannur as a precaution.

"The flight landed safely in Kannur. We will know what the problem is hereafter," airport sources told news agency PTI.

In a separate incident, an aircraft bound for Abu Dhabi with about 260 passengers onboar...