Dutch air safety inspectors investigated 747 cases of air rage and other bad behaviour by passengers last year, the NRC reports.

The 2014 figures show a sharp increase compared with the 627 cases investigated in 2013 and 541 in 2012, the paper said.

The nature of last year’s incidents has not yet been published but in 2013, 45% of the cases involved smoking and 18% problems due to alcohol or drugs.

The investigations involved flights both to and from the Netherlands but do not give a breakdown of where the perpetrators came from.