India, July 23 -- An Air India Express flight bound for Doha from Calicut International Airport on Wednesday returned a couple of hours after takeoff due to a technical fault.

An airport official told PTI that flight IX 375, which had 188 passengers, including the pilots and crew, took off from Calicut at around 9.07 AM but returned to the same airport two hours later at 11.12 AM.

"There was some technical issue in the aircraft's cabin AC. It was not an emergency landing," the official said.

The passengers safely deboarded the plane. According to airport authorities, either the technical issue would be rectified or another aircraft would be arranged for the travellers to resume their journey.

An Air India Express spokesperson said tha...