An Air India flight was delayed by several hours after a swarm of bees landed on the cockpit window, attacking ground staff when they tried to remove them, officials said.

The insects landed on the window just before the plane was due to leave the eastern city of Kolkata on Sunday with 136 passengers, including Bangladesh's information minister.

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Ground staff tried to shoo the insects off, angering them, and when attempts to use the windscreen wipers failed officials switched to 'plan b' and blasted them off with water.

"Fire tenders were deployed to spray water to dislodge the honey bees and they could be driven away after nearly an hour-long operation," airport official Kaushik Bhattcharya told AFP.

The flight to Agartala in north-eastern India eventually took off more than three and a half hours late.

Bees swarm when a queen bee leaves an existing colony to found a new home together with thousands of worker bees.