A British Airways plane has made an emergency landing at Sydney Airport.

Singapore-bound flight BAW16 had taken off from Sydney just after 3pm, shortly before the pilot issued a mayday call.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which has the capacity to carry between 250 and 500 passengers, returned to Sydney and landed safely after circling.

A British Airways spokesperson said the aircraft returned to Sydney as a precaution after reports of a technical issue.

“The flight landed safely and our teams are working hard to get customers’ journeys back on track as soon as possible,” the spokesperson said.

It is understood the plane ran into trouble over Orange in the NSW Central West before the aircraft turned around.

Audio of the mayday call between the pilot and the Sydney Airport operations control centre has since been released.

“Mayday Speedbird 16… just about to become established on (runway) 34 L, we will have to stop for at least a minute on the runway after landing,” the pilot said.

“Speedbird 16 Sydney tower… g’day, copy, mayday acknowledged,” the operations control centre employee responded.

The flight was met on the tarmac by eight emergency vehicles, including fire trucks, which is standard procedure for emergency landings.

The plane has since been met by engineers at the British Airways airport gate.