A US airliner bound for India was diverted to Amsterdam under escort of two Dutch F-16 jet fighters, after air marshals and the crew grew suspicious of several passengers they saw exchanging mobile phones as the plane was taking off.

KLM could lose thousands of take-off and landing rights at Amsterdam airport Schiphol next year, following an error at the airport that will reduce the number of allowed flights in the short term, the airport's CEO Gerlach Cerfontaine said.