The flight was preparing for takeoff when the bugs started to emerge on the Air Transat flight from Gatwick Airport to Vancouver.

Footage uploaded to Twitter by passenger Kristin Nielson shows people squeezing out of their seats as pest control officers spray pesticide onto the seats.

The problem was deemed so bad that all passengers were forced to exit the plane and wait 24 hours for a different flight.

Another passenger, Jenna Sullivan, said the bugs looked like “brown beetles with wings”.

“We had been on the plane a few minutes when a bug just fell down between my seat and the man next to me,” she told Daily Mail .

“Another fell into his lap and he picked it up. The flight attendant told him to kill it immediately and he did.

“It was disgusting.”

She added that the bugs were also seen running up the aisle.

Multiple other passengers took to Twitter to share their frustrations with the incident.

Air Transat apologised for the delay in a statement.

“The safety and comfort of our passengers is of paramount importance, and we are sorry for the delay to our flight to Vancouver which was due to the need to fumigate the aircraft,” the airline said.

“Passengers were provided with hotel accommodation and meals, and we regret any inconvenience caused by the delay to their journey.”