AN AirAsia X flight from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur had to reroute to Melbourne Airport after the plane suffered a technical issue, The NewDaily reported.
A spokesman for Air Services Australia says the pilot decided to turn around flight XAX223 as a precautionary measure, and landed safely at 2pm (AEDT).
Reports say the flight eventually took off for Kuala Lumpur at 5.13pm (AEDT) after the delay.
According to the Civil Aviation and Safety Authority, the plane’s navigation system and map display were malfunctioning.
The pilot is believed to have turned back to Melbourne as the weather was more favourable than Sydney.
An AirAsia spokesman said: “We would also like to clarify that it was a precautionary diversion and not an emergency landing”.
On February 8 pilots of an AirAsia X flight from Kuala Lumpur to Jeddah, western Saudi Arabia, aborted the flight and circled for hours to burn off fuel before landing safely in Malaysia.
AirAsia X is a long-haul, budget airline based in Malaysia, and a sister company of AirAsia.