An Air India flight enroute to Italy on Thursday had to make a sudden return to New Delhi after a ‘suspected rat sighting’ two hours into the journey.

The Dreamliner with almost 200 people on board was on its way to Milan when passengers and cabin crew members spotted a rat in the cabin, said a report in Times of India.

Rats on board pose a serious threat to the safety of flights as they can chew wires and damage internal controls.

“Though the presence of the rodent was not confirmed, keeping passenger safety in mind, the aircraft was brought back,” the report cited an AI spokesperson as saying.

The aircraft will be fumigated to ensure it is eliminated.

AI flights faced a similar rodent problem months earlier, when its aircraft had to be grounded in Leh after some rats were spotted on it in May, the report said.

Rats find their way on board through catering vans, following the large storage cases in which food trays are kept.