SINGAPORE - An Amsterdam-bound flight was forced to make an emergency landing in Vienna after a man refused to stop farting, causing a fight to break out between him and other passengers mid-air.

The Transavia Airlines flight from Dubai made an unscheduled stop in Vienna International Airport last weekend after two Dutch men complained that an older man seated near them did not stop farting, despite their repeated requests, according to local news outlet De Telegraaf.

A heated exchange soon broke out between them, which reportedly also involved a flight attendant of the low-cost Dutch airline who had tried to intervene.

Upon landing in Vienna, Austrian police officers came on board the aircraft with dogs.

A video of the officers in the plane was shared online.

Four people, comprising the two Dutch men and two Dutch-Moroccan sisters, were escorted off the plane, local media reported.

One of the sisters, Ms Nora Lachhab, 25, told De Telegraaf that she was puzzled to be pulled off the flight.

"The strange thing was that we also had to leave the aircraft, when we did not know these guys at all. We happened to be in the same row, but did not do anything to justify the bizarre behaviour of the Transavia crew," she said.

However, a Transavia Airlines spokesman said that the women had misbehaved and thrown verbal abuse at others.

A police spokesman confirmed with British newspaper the Mirror that "a passenger suffering from wind who was not attempting to restrain himself" was involved in the incident.

The four passengers were banned from the airlines, which meant that they had to make alternative travel arrangements from Vienna to Amsterdam, local media said.

It is unclear what happened to the passenger who was farting and whether he had a medical condition that led to his flatulence.