An Air Arabia flight operating from Sharjah to Kozhikode was diverted to Kochi in the early hours of Saturday after the aircraft developed a technical issue, airport officials said. The plane landed safely at Cochin International Airport and resumed its journey after the snag was rectified.

According to a spokesperson of Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL), Air Arabia flight G9 454 was diverted due to a problem related to the aircraft's engine reverse thrust system.

Following standard safety procedures, airport authorities declared a local standby at 3.19 am and escalated it to a full emergency at 3.34 am to ensure all emergency response services were prepared.

"The aircraft landed safely at 3.38 am and was guided to the designated parking bay. The full emergency was withdrawn at 3.45 am after all safety checks were completed," the spokesperson said.

There were 170 passengers, nine infants and crew members on board the flight. All passengers and crew were safe, officials said.

Airport operations remained unaffected during the emergency response, the spokesperson added.

After engineers rectified the technical snag, the aircraft departed from Kochi for Kozhikode at 7.15 am.