Passengers on an overbooked Ryanair flight departing from Malta were asked to “voluntarily” get off the plane.

The incident reportedly took place on July 11 ahead of a scheduled flight to Treviso.

Passengers had already boarded the plane by the time the overbooking problem was raised.

Italian media reported that two passengers, Chinese nationals, accepted compensation to voluntarily get off the plane and catch another flight.

The flight was said to have left two hours later than scheduled due to the overbooking.

Footage of the incident, published by Italian media, shows the captain saying the aircraft could not take more than 189 passengers.