Varanasi, July 30 (IANS) A Mumbai-bound Air India flight Friday returned to Varanasi after it developed a technical snag shortly after take-off, an official said.

‘The plane returned merely 5-10 minutes after it took-off from the Babatpur airport,’ airport director S.K. Siddhu told reporters in Varanasi, some 300 km from Lucknow.

‘It cannot be termed as an emergency landing,’ he clarified.

According to officials, all the 145 passengers abroad IC-195 are safe.

There was no official statement given or released by the officials of the Air India.