A drunk passenger tried to enter the cockpit of a Virgin Australia plane as it flew from Brisbane to Bali, prompting fears of a hijack, the airline said.

Virgin Australia's representative at Bali's international airport, Heru Sudjatmiko, says a drunken and unruly passenger - who authorities identified as Matt Christopher Lockley - became aggressive and was handcuffed by cabin crew.

"This is no hijacking, this is a miscommunication. What happened was there was a drunk person... too much alcohol consumption caused him to act aggressively," he said.

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"Based on the report I received, the passenger tried to enter the cockpit, through the cockpit door, by banging on the door but he did not enter the cockpit at all."

The message relayed to air traffic control about an attempt to breach the cockpit reportedly triggered the airport’s "worst case scenario" response leading to the misreporting of a hijacking.

"We then guided the flight to land as they were flying close to the airport," transport ministry official Herry Bakti said.

Indonesian police arrested the 27-year-old Lockley, who was travelling alone, shortly after the plane landed.

"The suspect is being interrogated by police in Bali," said Suhardi Alius, a police official in Jakarta.

The 137 passengers and six crew members were unharmed and were taken off the aircraft at Denpasar, an Indonesian air force spokesman said.

"The police are having difficulty digging up information on what he intended to do because he is still in an unstable condition," a police official at the airport told media.

In the travel alerts section of Virgin's website the airline posted:

"Reports that Virgin Australia flight VA41 was hijacked en route from Brisbane to Denpasar are completely incorrect. "The Boeing 737-800 aircraft landed safely at Denpasar airport at 15.16 local and all 137 passengers and 7 crew have since disembarked. At no point was the safety of the aircraft in question. "There was a disruptive passenger on board and the pilot notified authorities in advance of landing, as per standard operating procedures. "The passenger was unarmed and is now in the custody of the Indonesian authorities."

A Virgin Australia plane made its way towards the terminal after it was forced to land due to an unruly passenger. ( Instagram: Edwin Diaz )

Palani Mohan, a passenger on a Garuda Indonesia flight that was about to take off from Bali, said: "The captain of my plane made an announcement saying we were delayed indefinitely because a hijack was going on in Bali airport, about 150 metres away from us."

"I saw at least five vehicles including military-style trucks, filled with men in uniform, rushing towards the plane.

"Then the Virgin plane taxied away, followed by the convoy of security forces. The flight attendant said it's been taken off to a different part of the airport."

The airport was shut down for about an hour but flights resumed after the Virgin plane was taken off the tarmac.

Virgin Australia, formerly Virgin Blue, is Australia's second-largest airline as well as the largest by fleet size to use the Virgin brand.

ABC/wires