A Boeing 737 carrying 78 passengers has made a successful emergency landing at St Petersburg after one of its engines failed.

"The plane made a safe landing...no passengers were injured," Russian airline UTair, which operated the flight, said in a statement.

UTair is Russia's third-largest airline by passenger numbers, carrying 11.2 million travellers over the past year.

The country's economic crisis and sanctions has hit the company hard and it is being sued by a number of creditors who say the airline owes them money.