Paris Orly airport was forced to close one of its runways after an Air Algerie flight skidded off the tarmac earlier today.

A photo has emerged of the Airbus A330-202 as it skidded off runway 26 at the second-biggest airport in the French capital at around 2.30pm local time.

The runway remains closed while the authorities remove the plane.

A spokesman for Paris Orly said no one was injured and either a technical fault or human error was the cause of the incident.

"The front of the plane is in the grass," said the spokeswoman. "It happened after the landing. It will take a few hours to get it out.

"We're down to one runway. We don't yet know what caused it to happen. The police will have to make an inquiry."

The runway is expected to open shortly.

"Monday is not a big day for traffic so with one runway closed we have no delays at this time," said the spokesman. "The plane had landed and he went out of the runway and a little bit on the grass. The passengers are all in the terminal waiting for their luggage."

Paris