(Yicai Global) Sept. 16 -- China Eastern Airlines's Airbus A330 flight that departed from Shanghai's Pudong International Airport for Brisbane last night had to return shortly after take-off because a bird collided with the plane.

The MU715 got back to Pudong safely, the Shanghai-based aviation firm said in a statement on its official Weibo account today. The plane returned around 10.45 p.m., a bit more than an hour after departure, according to flight-tracking platform FlightAware.

The MU715 was rescheduled and it arrived in Brisbane this afternoon, according to Chinese aviation data firm VariFlight. The aircraft is almost eight years old.

Editor: Emmi Laine