Pune-bound Air Asia flight on Thursday made an emergency landing at  Bhubaneswar's Biju Patnaik International Airport following a bird-hit incident, the airport authority informed.

The airline said that around 170 passengers were on board the Airbus aircraft. All passengers were evacuated safely, and the aircraft was thoroughly inspected.

Air Asia said that the flight take off from Bhubaneswar to Pune was hit by a bird and returned to Bhubaneswar for detailed inspection. The office staff has properly cared for the guests and reduced the effect on other scheduled operations.

A similar incident also happened in January this year; a Kolkata-bound AirAsia flight had to make an emergency landing after a bird hit at the Lucknow airport just shortly after taking off, an airline official said.

An AIX Connect spokesperson had said that Flight i5-319, which was scheduled to operate from Lucknow to Kolkata, experienced a bird strike during the take-off roll. As a result, the aircraft returned to the bay and was landed for detailed inspection."

The airline was making arrangements to accommodate the passengers on other flights.