Passengers had a mass mid-air brawl when a group of women refused to stop making noise while the lights were dimmed.

The budget airline left from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Monday evening at 6 pm before those onboard settled down for naps on the four-hour flight to China.

But a father who was seated behind a row of three young women was furious when they carried on 'talking loudly'. He reportedly asked them to be quiet, only for them to refuse.

Tensions erupted when he shouted at them to 'shut up, shut up, are you stupid, I want to sleep'. Shockingly, they then exchanged blows as the mother of the girls joined in.

Footage shows a woman in a green dress and baseball cap leaning across the seat while repeatedly throwing punches at the man, who cowered beneath the food tray.

Desperate Air Asia cabin crew in the company's distinctive red dresses can be seen wrestling with those involved in the fracas. Emergency flashing lights were triggered.

A female attendant screamed at them to sit back in their places as the scrap was finally brought under control, with surrounding passengers pointing fingers at the alleged instigators.

A woman onboard the flight who recorded the video said the fist-fight began around mid-way through the journey, which costs around 92 GBP one-way.

They said: 'We were sitting behind the row of women and listened to the quarrel. They were chatting too loudly while the lights were turned off, and the man in front asked them to be silent because he wanted to sleep. His tone was quite aggressive.

'The mother of one of the women then joined in. The friends then went up to attack the man. There were two women fighting the male passenger.

'I don't remember if the man asked the hostess to stop them from talking. But the cabin crew should not have allowed the situation to escalate. But when it was happening, they took control and settled them down.'

Flight records show the Airbus A320 left the Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 6:11 pm local time bound for the Chengdu Tianfu International Airport. It landed at 10:13 pm local time.

Police were waiting at the airport to question those involved in the brawl on flight D7326.

Officials at the Airport Public Security Bureau of the Sichuan Provincial Public Security Department launched an investigation. They did not reveal in local media what became of the suspects.