190122 air india express
File photo: Air India Express flight. Image Credit: Supplied

Thiruvananthapuram: An Air India Express flight which took off from here for Sharjah in the UAE on Monday morning with 170 passengers was forced to turn back shortly after taking off due to a technical glitch.

The plane, which also had a crew of six, landed safely at Thiruvananthapuram airport and another flight was arranged for the passengers, including five infants, to travel to Sharjah, an Air India Express (AIE) spokesperson told PTI.

According to an official of the airport, the incident occurred around 7 AM.

The AIE spokesperson said the pilots noticed the technical glitch around half-an-hour after take-off and immediately decided to turn back to Thiruvananthapuram.