Passengers onboard a Ryanair aircraft bound for Lisbon, Portugal were delayed for four hours onboard after a baggage trailer was reported to have accidentally rammed into the plane. 

Flight FR 9654 was scheduled to leave Malta at 2.15pm on Saturday, but passengers said they felt the plane "shake" after it was hit by a vehicle. 

Passengers saw airport crew outside the plane on Saturday.

Much to the frustration of passengers, the captain said the flight had to be delayed due to "technical difficulties" before waiting for the engineer to give the all-clear.

One passenger told Times of Malta that several passengers were getting more impatient as the delay dragged on and information was scarce. 

But just as the aircraft was about to take off there was more bad news for the passengers: the flight had to be delayed further because of bad weather in Portugal. 

The plane eventually departed at 6.15pm.

The agent, Aviaserve, confirmed that the "handling process caused some damage" to the aircraft.

"As a result, the aircraft needed to be checked by engineers prior to being released – unfortunately, the delay was exacerbated further due to air traffic restrictions at Lisbon airport."

 The company said an internal investigation into the event is underway.