Saudia Dreamliner lands safely after circling Manchester for four hours

Saudi Airways flight 123 from Jeddah was in holding pattern due to flap issue

Planes preparing for take off at Riyadh's King Khalid Airport. Alamy

A Saudia flight from Jeddah to Manchester circled the skies above the English city for four hours on Thursday after reporting a flap issue.

Flight SV123 between the two destinations has an average flight time of about six hours according to Flightradar24.com. It departed Jeddah at 3.55am local time and was due to land at 8.30am.

However, pilots of the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner reported a flap problem and the aircraft was put in a holding pattern over the English countryside for four hours.

Aviation followers kept a close eye on the situation on Twitter, hoping that the plane would make a safe landing.

After burning fuel, the Dreamliner made its approach to land.

And it safely touched ground at 12.30pm to the applause of onlookers at the airport.