41 Passengers Removed From Brussels Airlines Flight

Forty-one passengers were removed from a Brussels Airlines flight before it took off from Brussels on Saturday, because the passengers were being "unruly" and "aggressive" toward members of the crew, a spokeswoman for the airline told ABC News.

The flight took off without the passengers, at least some of whom "had been drinking," en route to Alicante, Spain, according to Kim Daenen, a Brussels Airlines spokeswoman, ABC News reported.

"During taxiing, there were a few passengers who were being unruly and also aggressive toward our crew," Daenen said.

"All of the passengers were part of the same group, which had all been booked together on the flight, SN3771. The captain asked for them to stay calm," but they didn't listen, she added.

So before taking off, she said, "the captain decided to go back to the gate ... We had to think of the comfort of the other passengers."

She would not give any more details about the passengers, such as what type of group they were or what nationality they were. Earlier this year, a global airline trade group said incidents on planes are increasing and called for more effective deterrents to tackle the problem.

There were 10,854 air rage incidents reported by airlines worldwide last year, up from 9,316 incidents in 2014, according to the International Air Transport Association.

That equates to one incident for every 1,205 flights, an increase from one incident per 1,282 flights the previous year.