An Air Malta flight to Rome had to return to Malta this morning because of a minor technical fault, an airline spokesman confirmed.

He said the passengers were never in any danger.

The plane took off on schedule shortly before 6 a.m. and was meant to make a stop-over at Reggio Calabria but the pilot decided to return to Malta as a safety precaution when the fault was detected.

Although the fault was rectified "within five minutes" the flight could not take off again for three hours because bad weather had closed Reggio Calabria airport, the spokesman said.

The plane left once more at 9.30 a.m.