A WestJet 737 aircraft similar to this one made an unscheduled landing in Vancouver on Thursday after it turned back on a flight to Hawaii. (CBC)

Dozens of WestJet passengers who expected to be celebrating New Year's Eve in balmy Hawaii were instead stuck back in soggy Vancouver Thursday night after their Honolulu-bound aircraft had to return for an emergency landing.

The 737-800 with 153 passengers and six crew aboard landed without incident just after 4 p.m. PT as emergency crews stood by, concerned about reports of a blown tire on the plane.

Airline spokesman Robert Palmer told CBC News that one of the aircraft's four main tires appeared to have shredded during takeoff.

"Someone on the ground at [Vancouver Airport] located some tire tread," Palmer said. "It was ascertained to be tread belonging to that particular aircraft and so the aircraft turned back."

The pilots turned the plane around about an hour into the flight and then spent more than three hours circling off Vancouver Island as they dumped fuel from the aircraft's tanks.

Passenger jets with full loads of fuel are often too heavy to land safely.

The flight had left Vancouver at 11:41 a.m. PT, more than 90 minutes after its scheduled departure.

The airline said passengers would be put aboard a flight Friday, and those requiring accommodation would be put up at an area hotel at the airline's expense.

At 9 p.m PT Thursday, the temperature in Honolulu was reported to be 26 C under clear skies. Vancouver was 5 C and rainy.