A transatlantic flight has been forced to divert to Shannon Airport so that passengers could use the airport's toilets.

The Open Skies flight was on its way from Newark in New Jersey to Orly Airport in Paris this morning.

The flight was reportedly around 500km south west of Ireland when the crew decided to divert to Shannon. 

The pilot told air traffic controllers that there was a problem with the toilets on board the aircraft leaving them unserviceable in the air.

The 184 crew and passengers landed at Shannon at 7.30am this morning and took off again at 9.38am.