Air France flight from Paris to San Francisco diverted over English Channel

Plane circled around the English Channel dumping fuel before returning to Paris

The Air France flight has returned to Paris (Getty)

An Air France flight from Paris to San Francisco has been forced divert over the English Channel.

Flight radar shows the Boeing 777-200 flying in a circle several times over the sea to dump fuel before returning to Paris, despite the pilot not declaring an emergency.

It comes with airports around the world are on high alert following the crash of the Russian Metrojet flight in the Sinai desert, which was officially ruled a terrorist attack by Russian authorities earlier this week.

A spokesman for Air France said the plane suffered a “minor technicality” and would begin flying again shortly.

On Wednesday, two Air France flights from the US to Paris were diverted because of bomb threats.

Earlier on Friday, Air France cancelled a scheduled flight from Paris to the Malian capital Bamako due to a hotel siege where 170 were taken hostage.