Those on board the charter flight run by Romanian company Legend Airlines were travelling from Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates to Managua, Nicaragua.

But the A340 plane was grounded at Vatry Airport, a small hub in Champagne, northeastern France, on Thursday, following a tip-off that the passengers may be the victims of people smugglers.

The "seizure of the aircraft has been lifted", the Marne prefecture said on Sunday, and the "relevant authorities are working for the aircraft to take off again, which should happen by Monday morning at the latest".

It is not clear whether the passengers, who have been staying at the airport, will be allowed to continue to Nicaragua.

All other flights were cancelled or rerouted while the airport was transformed into a hub for the human trafficking investigation.

Passengers sleep on camp beds

All 15 crew members have been questioned and released, according to a lawyer for the airline, who said they are deeply shaken by what happened.

Passengers are still being held in the airport, where they have spent three nights on camp beds, according to an official with the local administration.

The youngest on board was a 21-month-old toddler and there were some unaccompanied children, according to the local civil protection agency.

Emergency workers, Red Cross workers, a doctor and local volunteers arrived at the scene to look after the needs of the passengers, including providing regular meals, medical care and access to toilets and showers, the administration said in a statement on Saturday.

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The Indian Embassy in France posted on X that embassy staff had obtained consular access to the passengers.

Airline denies role in possible human trafficking

Legend Airlines lawyer Liliana Bakayoko said the company denies any role in possible human trafficking, and welcomed the release of the plane and its crew after questioning as "good news for the airline".

A "partner" company that chartered the plane was responsible for verifying the identity documents of each passenger, and communicated the passengers' passport information to the airline 48 hours before the flight, Ms Bakayoko said.

The customer, which she would not identify but said was not a European company, had chartered multiple flights on Legend Airlines from Dubai to Nicaragua, some of which had already made the journey without incident, she said.

The crew members, who are of multiple nationalities, "are rather traumatised", she said, adding: "They wrote me messages that they want to see their families for Christmas."

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While it is not certain the Indians' destination was the US, Nicaragua has frequently been used as a springboard for migrants because of relaxed or visa-free entry requirements for some nationalities.

Charter flights are sometimes used to make the journey before migrants travel north by bus with the help of smugglers.

The US is dealing with record numbers of people trying to reach the US border from Mexico with the issue of border security becoming a key Republican line of attack ahead of the 2024 election.