Angry passengers have gone on the rampage at an Indonesian airport as they protested about extensive flight delays.

Smashed glass walls, barricaded gates and airline workers held hostage were just some of the incidents at Indonesia's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, near Jakarta, over the weekend, the Jakarta Globe reported.

The chaos started last week when popular low-cost airline Lion Air grounded 16 flights, saying "foreign objects" had damaged three of its planes.

It could not have happened at a worse time, with thousands of people travelling for Chinese New Year.