Kenya Airways, on Saturday confirmed an incident where a plane en route to Dubai from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) was forced to turn back after one of its tyres plugged off.

According to a statement by KQ, JKIA Air Traffic Control encountered tyre debris during a regular runway inspection.

Upon further investigations, it was established by the operations team that the tyre debris was from KQ 310, which had departed on a scheduled flight from Nairobi to Dubai.

“The operations team contacted the crew and agreed on a precautionary air turnback to Nairobi for further technical attention," read part of a statement by KQ. 

After consultations with operations control, the flight crew followed the precautionary safety procedures and returned to Nairobi safely. The flight landed back to JKIA at around 11.46 am.

“The passengers have been provided with accommodation as arrangements are made to rebook them on the next available flight. Air turnbacks are standard safety procedures in aviation," noted the flight owners.

“We sincerely apologise to our guests for the inconvenience and assure our customers that their safety and that of our crew is our highest priority.”

The incident came a week after the plane corporation announced possible flight disruptions due to challenges in acquiring plane spare parts.

K1, in an advisory dated December 8, announced that it would extend grounding time for flights as a safety precaution.

"In light of the increased demand for air travel during this festive season, we want to share some important information with you. Our current flight schedule may experience disruptions in the coming weeks mainly due to challenges in the aircraft spare parts global supply chain," its statement read in part. 

"This may also lead to grounding one or more of our aircraft in line with our commitment to the highest level of safety and reliability of our operations."

According to the flight company, the disruptions would last for about two weeks.