A plane bound for France was forced to return to Stockholm's Arlanda airport after a bomb threat, emergency services and police said Thursday.

The Norwegian Air plane had 169 people onboard and was bound for Nice, southern France when the threat was received at about 10.39 am (0939 GMT).

‘The plane returned when it received the information about the threat,’ Johan Beischer, spokesman for the maritime and rescue emergency centre, told Stockholm daily Expressen.

After landing, the Boeing 737 jet remained parked at a distance from the terminal buildings.

Among the passengers were several members of Sweden's national swimming team who were heading to Nice for a competition.

Male swimmer Isak Eliasson told Swedish network SVT that the situation onboard had been ‘very calm and the crew were in control.’  Almost two hours after landing, passengers were allowed to disembark in groups of roughly 10, SVT reported.

Television images showed several police vehicles at the scene.

Bomb disposal experts were due to inspect the plane, police spokeswoman Tove Hagg said.

Norwegian Air issued a statement confirming the bomb threat against flight DY4321 that ‘for security reasons returned to Arlanda,’ adding it was a police matter.

The low-budget carrier later said it had a replacement plane on standby.

A spokesman for airport operator Swedavia told dpa that the incident had not affected other flights.