Five men are in police custody in Bali after a Jetstar plane from Sydney to Phuket was forced to land in Denpasar after a mid-air brawl between five passengers.

Jetstar confirmed that six passengers travelling together on Wednesday night on flight JQ27 were being “extremely disruptive” among themselves and refused to follow crew directions.

While the ABC said it was unclear whether physical altercations were involved, other media outlets have reported a “brawl” and “wild fight” on board, prompting the pilot to divert to Bali.

Once the aircraft landed in Denpasar, Indonesian police removed the passengers from the aircraft which then flew on to Thailand.

A Jetstar spokeswoman said other passengers thanked the crew for diverting and removing the group.

“We take safety and security seriously and we don’t tolerate disruptive behaviour by passengers on our flights,” she said.

“The other customers onboard supported the decision to offload the group in Bali and thanked the crew.”