Facebook user Amir Zidane filmed the fruit being unloaded after the protest. Source: BBC

Around two tons of durian had to be removed from the cargo hold of a plane in Indonesia after passengers complained about the stench.

The fruit, considered to be the world's smelliest, was taken of a Sriwijaya Air flight, bound for Jakarta from Bengkulu.

The passengers demanded that the fruit be removed, with some almost coming to blows with crew members, according to the BBC.

"When I entered the plane, I could already smell the scent of durian. I complained to the stewardess, but they told me to just fill up a complaint form," said Amir Zidane, a passenger onboard the plane who detailed the incident in a Facebook post.

Zidane said that crew members assured him the smell would vanish as soon as the plane was in the air, reported BBC.

However, he was unsatisfied with the answer and called his fellow passengers against flying in those conditions.

"I yelled at the other passengers 'Who on this plane wants to fly?'. They all chanted back 'not us!!'"

Eventually, they were all asked to leave the plane while the crew unloaded the fruit.

The airline later said that it was within its rights to carry the fruit in cargo, despite the smell.

"It's not illegal to carry durian in a flight as long as it is wrapped properly in accordance with flight regulations - carried inside the hold. Many airlines do this," senior corporate communications manager Retri Maya said in a statement to the Jakarta Post.

The durian is a delicacy in much of Asia, but due to its potent stench in certain countries, it's banned from public transportation, hotels, and even planes.

Earlier this year an Australian university library was evacuated amid fears of a major gas leak, but the source of the smell later turned out to be durian fruit.