A Ryanair flight declared an emergency minutes after take-off from Glasgow Prestwick airport on Monday.

Flight FR655, operated by an 18-year-old Boeing 737-800, departed the airport around 8.45am bound for Malaga. 

Flight tracking data shows the plane squawked 7700, indicating a general emergency, minutes after take-off as it flew at an altitude of 6,000 ft over Stranraer.

7700 is a squawk code that is reserved for emergency situations and immediately alerts Air Traffic Control (ATC) and other units that the aircraft squawking 7700 is in distress.

It may be assigned by Air Traffic Control or the pilots may decide to enter it into their transponder themselves. 

The plane diverted to Dublin Airport and maintained an altitude of 6,000 ft. After entering into a holding pattern, flight data shows the plane landed safely in Dublin around 10am. 

It is understood that emergency vehicles were on-hand to meet the aircraft on arrival.

Unconfirmed reports suggest the diversion was possibly due to issues with the flaps.

A Ryanair spokesperson confirmed to our sister title The Herald that the flight diverted to Dublin due to "a minor technical issue with the aircraft". 

They added: "To minimise disruption to passengers, Ryanair quickly arranged for another aircraft to operate this flight while engineers inspected the original aircraft, which arrived in Malaga this afternoon."