A wide-bodied Boeing 777 aircraft returned to Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport for safety reasons on Sunday around 40 minutes after take-off.
The aircraft operated by Dutch airline KLM was en route to Rio de Janeiro and was travelling over Belgium when a technical fault was reported, the ANP news agency reported Dutch air traffic control as saying.
The aircraft landed safely and the occupants were not in any danger, a KLM spokesman told the agency. The specific nature of the defect was not disclosed.
Jet fuel was dumped over the North Sea before the safe landing, the report said. Rescue teams were on alert at the airport - a routine measure in such cases.
The passengers of flight KLM705 would be taken to Rio de Janeiro on another aircraft on Sunday, KLM said. The number of passengers affected was not initially disclosed.