The group of 16 passengers kicked off a Jetstar flight for 'drunken and disruptive' behaviour were men and women from Irish hurling and football teams, according to reports.

Flight crew decided to remove 'a handful' of intoxicated passengers after they boarded the Sydney-bound plane at Melbourne Airport at around 8pm on Monday.

The flight was then delayed for 80 minutes as the unruly passengers were marched off the plane - with some of their friends and partners choosing to join them.

It has now been revealed that the rowdy passengers had been in Melbourne for one of the largest Gaelic sporting events in the country at the weekend.

A group of 16 drunk passengers were escorted off a Jetstar plane before it could take off following 'disruptive' behaviour

The Herald Sun reported that some of the passengers were from Sydney-based Michael Cusacks Hurlers, who won the Padraig Pearses GAC 7-a-side tournament at Gaelic Park on Sunday.

Some of the other passengers escorted off the flight were from men's and women's football teams.

The Sydney Gaelic Athletic Association is looking into the incident.

Flight attendants then contacted the Australian Federal Police for assistance and officers attended the domestic departure gate.

A spokesman for AFP said that no charges have been laid at this stage.

Josh Berg, who was sitting beside some of the evicted passengers, told the Herald Sun that he heard arguing outside the plane.

'We heard lots of arguing just outside the plane and then something like six federal police came on the plane and picked people out of the plane,' he said.

Jetstar said the company did not tolerate disruptive behaviour and that the airline has 'strict rules' on alcohol use.

The budget airline said the flight crew decided to kick out 'a handful' of intoxicated passengers after they boarded the Sydney-bound plane at Melbourne Airport (pictured) at around 8pm on Monday

'We take safety and security seriously and have strict rules on alcohol use, including the right to deny boarding or offload intoxicated passengers,' a spokesman said.

'We don't tolerate disruptive behaviour by passengers on our flights, so our crew made a decision with the captain that a number of passengers would not travel on one of our Melbourne to Sydney services overnight.

'Unfortunately the actions of this group interrupted the travel plans of other customers.'

Flight JQ522, which was scheduled to depart at 7.40pm, finally took off at 9pm.

A spokesman for AFP said: 'This is a timely reminder for the public to remember that when travelling on an aircraft within Australia, you are bound by Australian laws.