Yunnan Lucky Air has grounded and sacked a pilot for asking passengers to protest flight delay on tarmac.

The airline's decision following an incident occurred on midnight of November 28 when flight 8L9917 was due to depart from Xishuang Banna Airport in Southwest China's Yunnan Province for the provincial capital Kunming, local media reported.

At around 12:40 a.m., 35 minutes later than scheduled departure time, the pilot told passengers onboard flight 8L9917 that another flight had jumped the queue for take-off.

He then called on them to get off the aircraft to put pressure on the airport authorities. "I am very angry. Please get off the plane. We're not taking off now. Let's put some pressure on the airport and help me see some justice."

Disgruntled Chinese passengers took his advice and got to the tarmac and protested against their flight delay.

A video posted on social media showed passengers doing as the pilot requested, strolling around the aircraft, taking selfies and kicking a shuttlecock in the air in front of the plane.

Soon after the protest, Lucky Air and the airport reached an agreement and the pilot asked the passengers to return to the cabin.

However, 12 passengers refused to get onboard the plane, expressing annoyance at being "called around at someone else's will", the report said. They terminated their trip at Xishuang Banna Airport.

Flight 8L9917 eventually departed at 3:00 a.m. and arrived in Kunming an hour later.

Twelve passengers who refused to re-embark were left at Xishuangbanna airport.

Lucky Air said in a statement that the delay was the result of communication problems between the airport and the crew and that the pilot had been fired. Meanwhile, the 12 passengers are being accommodated and fed at nearby hotels, and the airline will endorse the latest flights for them.