A Qatar Airways flight en route from Doha to Perth in Australia was forced to divert to Colombo in Sri Lanka after the pilot reported a suspected fuel leak in one of the aircraft's engines, it was reported.

"A Qatar Airways Boeing 777-300, registration A7-BAW performing flight QR-900 from Doha (Qatar) to Perth,WA (Australia), was enroute at FL310 about 190nm westsouthwest of Colombo (Sri Lanka) when the crew decided to divert to Colombo due to a suspected fuel leak from the left hand engine (GE90). The aircraft landed safely on Colombo's runway 22 about 30 minutes later," The Aviation Herald reported.

The captain reported an indicator problem and flight attendants were told to monitor the left wing for leaks, the report added.

A replacement aircraft was flown to Colombo and the flight reached Perth with a delay of just over ten hours.

The diverted aircraft returned to Doha and was grounded for 24 hours before it was allowed back in service. (Source: Arabian Business)