A Qantas flight from Thailand to the UK has been forced to return to the Bangkok airport after one of its engines broke down after take-off.

The Australian carrier says there was an increase in vibration and high temperatures in one of the plane's four engines on Friday. The pilots shut the engine down and landed the Boeing 747-400 soon after, reports from AP and the Sydney Morning Herald said.

Qantas said it believes the cause of the engine trouble is similar to issues other airlines are having with Rolls Royce engines.This is another setback for Rolls Royce after a similar engine trouble was experienced in a Cathay Pacific plane made an emergency landing in Singapore on Monday as the engine caught fire.

Rolls Royce has yet to recover from its November confidence crisis after one of its Trent 900 engines on a Qantas A380 disintegrated after take-off from Singapore.