An Albania Airlines plane flying from Albania to Italy made an emergency landing in Bratislava after experiencing a "technical problem" on Sunday evening, an Air Slovakia source told AFP.

He added the Albanian carrier had hired the plane from Air Slovakia.

"Some time after takeoff, they had a technical problem, so they decided to land in Bratislava because we have maintenance here," said the source, refusing to give his name.

He added technicians in Bratislava were still looking for a solution shortly before midnight (2300 GMT on Sunday).

Albanian media and an Albania Airlines spokesman said on Sunday the pilots of a Boeing 737 with 110 passengers on board, flying from Tirana to Bologna in Italy, diverted the plane towards Bratislava in protest against delayed salaries.

According to the Bratislava airport website, Flight LV 226 landed at 18:40 local time (1740 GMT).

The flightstats.com website said the plane was scheduled to land in Bologna at 16:30 (1530 GMT).