Dublin/London  - A Ryanair aircraft was Thursday forced to make an emergency landing minutes after take-off from Dublin airport in Ireland, the budget airline said.

A spokesman said the back of the plane struck the runway as it took off and the pilot returned to the airport as a precaution. He described the occurrence as a "tail-strike" which was "quite common."

"As a precautionary measure the aircraft returned with oxygen masks deployed and landed safely in Dublin," he said.

All 148 passengers disembarked normally and the flight later took off for London-Stansted airport. No-one was injured.

The incident comes less than a month after a Ryanair Boeing en route from Britain to Girona, northern Spain, made an emergency landing at Limoges airport in France after loss of cabin pressure. (dpa)