The women, all believed to be Chinese, were warned that the pilot would be forced to turn back and make an emergency landing if they didn't stop fighting.

The dispute arose on an Air China flight that took off at 9am after two women were awakened by the baby's cries and complained to 27-year-old mother, Chan Juan Sung.

As the situation escalated, the two women reclined their seats fully backwards, which aggravated things further.

A scuffle ensued, with one of the women hitting on her head on the overhead locker, until cabin crew managed to step in and separate the women.

Passenger Xiong Wan, 45, said: 'I was sitting right next to them when they started telling the woman to shut the baby up.

'She started shouting back at them and before I knew what was happening she leant over the seat and punched one of them.

'They then started hitting her and all hell broke loose.

'They were fighting, the baby was now screaming and other passengers were shouting. It was like some bizarre film.'

Thankfully for the other passengers on board, the flight landed at its scheduled time of 10:52am. Hong Kong police were waiting to interview passengers about the incident.

Air China spokesman Daio Weimin said: ‘Passengers cannot behave like this.

‘Each and everyone must adhere to aviation laws to ensure a safe and comfortable flight for all.’

The past few days have seen an alarming number of incidents on Chinese planes.

A man on board a Chinese domestic flight caused panic when he opened the emergency exit just before take-off as he 'wanted some fresh air.' 

The passenger was on a Xiamen Air flight from Hangzhou to Chengdu, and although cabin crew managed to diffuse the situation quickly and the flight took off on time.

Only days before, a Chinese man had opened the emergency exit and deployed the slide after wanting to 'get off quicker' from his China Eastern flight that landed at Sanya Fenghaung International Airport in Hainan.

Prior to this, a Chinese woman scalded a flight attendant by throwing a cup of hot noodles after finding out she wouldn't be sat next to her boyfriend.

The incident occurred on a charter flight from Bangkok to Nanjing, China, and passengers were on hand to pull out their smartphones as the mid-air drama unfolded in front of them, snapping pictures as the injured flight attendant covered her face and shouted in pain. 

(dailymail.co.uk)