AN easyJet flight made an emergency landing at Manchester Airport less than an hour after taking off.

The airline has confirmed that the Spain-bound plane returned as a precaution ‘due to a bird strike during take-off’.

The EZY1877 flight took off shortly after 2.30pm on Sunday, August 7.

The jet quickly turned around and returned to land back at the Terminal One runway.

Fire crews met the plane and all passengers disembarked safely.

The plane flew over Macclesfield and circled over the Peak District before landing back at Manchester, according to the flight map on service Flightradar.

A replacement aircraft was arranged for passengers to continue their journey to Spain.

A bird strike happens when a bird collides with a plane.

A spokesman for easyJet said: “We can confirm that flight EZY1877 from Manchester to Bilbao on August 7 returned from airborne due to a bird strike during take-off.

“The pilot returned to Manchester in line with our procedures and as a precaution only.

“All passengers disembarked normally and a replacement aircraft was arranged to continue the journey to Bilbao.

“Whilst this is outside of our control, we would like to apologise for any inconvenience experienced and thank passengers for their patience and understanding.

“The safety of passengers and crew is easyJet's highest priority.”