A group of Australian men whose brawl caused a Phuket-bound Jetstar flight to divert to Bali are returning to Melbourne.
Three of the six men boarded a flight on Friday afternoon. They are due to land at 10.10pm.
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Brawling Jetstar passengers detained in Bali
A group of Australian men are detained by Indonesian police over a drunken exchange on board a Jetstar flight. Vision courtesy Network Ten News.
It is understood Jetstar is considering seeking costs, which could run into the tens of thousands of dollars, for the diversion.
Flight JQ27 departed Sydney at 2.25pm on Wednesday and was mid-flight when a fight broke out between six men - all known to each other - seated in row 53.
The flight was diverted to Bali, where the men - identified as Bradley Beecham, Brett Eldridge, Michael Matthews, Mark Rossiter, Lynmin Waharai and Ricky Longmuir - were escorted off the plane by police.
Mr Matthews was reportedly punched in the face and needed medical attention for facial injuries on the tarmac in Bali.
The plane, with the remaining 309 passengers, did not arrive in Phuket until 11.15pm - more than two hours later than scheduled.
In the past, Qantas and Jetstar have sought costs from disruptive customers and banned them from flying on the airlines for up to 10 years.
Three of the men are due to arrive in Melbourne on Friday night. Their three friends are expected to be flown to Sydney and are due arrive at 6.15am on Saturday.
Both groups will be accompanied by two Jetstar security guards each.
A spokeswoman for Australian Federal Police would not confirm if the men would be arrested upon their return to Australia, but said authorities were aware of the incident.
"Presently the matter is in the hand of Indonesia authorities," spokeswoman said. "It would not be appropriate to comment further at this time."
The men, who remain in the custody of Indonesian police, have offered authorities no explanation for the mid-air brawl, other than they were all drunk.
"They all claim the fight started because they were drunk," Yusfandri Gona, head of Ngurah Rai Airport Authority, said.
"They consumed beers and liquors. That's what they claim; we can't verify their story further as we weren't able to interview the crew or other passengers on the flight."
One passenger on the Jetstar flight, Ryan Fuller, said a bottle of duty-free cognac was smashed in the ruckus.
Megan Wilson wrote on Facebook that her three friends were on the flight, one of whom described the incident as scary.
"She was in tears and kids etc ... were screaming," Ms Wilson wrote on Facebook after speaking to her friend.
"Blood was everywhere. It was a massive punch up."
In 2012, Melbourne Magistrates Court ordered a 58-year-old woman to pay $18,245 to Qantas after she assaulted a fellow passenger on a New Zealand-bound flight.
The flight had to be returned to Melbourne after the woman punched a male passenger and yelled obscenities at other passengers and crew. She was also handed a four-month suspended jail sentence and fined $3500.
with Deborah Gough, Amilia Rosa
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