An Air India flight from Thailand to India was forced to make an emergency landing after receiving a bomb threat just one day after a London-bound flight crashed and claimed 242 lives.

Passengers on flight AI 379 from Phuket to New Delhi were escorted off the plane, Airports of Thailand official said.

There were 156 passengers on the flight as the bomb threat was received on board the plane.

The aircraft departed the Thai island at 9.30am local time bound for New Delhi but returned after circling over the Andaman Sea.

Authorities have not disclosed specific details about the nature of the bomb threat received during the flight.

The incident comes after a flight bound for London Gatwick from the city of Ahmedabad crashed just after take off on Thursday.

Police in India say that more than 240 are thought to have died.

Air India confirmed there were 169 Indian, 53 British, one Canadian and seven Portuguese passengers on board at the time of the crash.