Aussie-bound Jetstar flight forced to return to Auckland

A Jetstar flight from Auckland, bound for the Gold Coast, was forced to return late this afternoon. Photo / File

A flight bound for Australia was forced to make a U-turn less than an half an hour into the journey late this afternoon.

Jetstar's JQ134 flight, headed to the Gold Coast, took off from the Auckland International Airport just before 4pm.

About 20 minutes into the flight, a decision was made to turn back because of an issue with one of the aircraft's hydraulic systems.

The aircraft has three hydraulic systems and a plane can safely operate on the two functioning hydraulic systems, Jetstar said.

"The captain onboard a flight from Auckland to Coolangatta elected to return to Auckland as a precaution, due to an issue with one of the hydraulic systems on the aircraft,'' a Jetstar spokeswoman said.

"The flight landed normally at Auckland Airport.''

The spokeswoman said engineers were now investigating the cause of the issue.

A spokesman for the Auckland Airport confirmed passengers had to wait for another flight out - on a different aircraft - at 6pm.