A large rat forced the cancellation of a transatlantic flight after it was spotted rampaging around the cabin, leaving more than 250 passengers stranded just shy of 8,000 kilometres from their final destination.

First noticed as the plane was crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the rodent was photographed clambering around the cabin, and even running along rails inside the craft.

With few options mid-flight, the aircrafts captain continued on to Aruba, before taking the aircraft out of service pending an inaction and the deep cleaning of the craft.

It is understood the rat did not interfere with the planes onboard services, with the KLM Airline company confirming that the incident was unusual and needed structure sanitary measures that usual.

However passengers who had been scheduled to return to the Netherlands via Bonaire found themselves stranded by the cancellation.

KLM did provide hotel accommodation and helped travellers to seek reimbursement under existing passenger rights regulations.

The European airline say the situation was rare, and frustrating, but pointed out that safety and hygiene standards need to be guaranteed before operating long-haul flights.

A spokesperson said that there was no explanation for how the runaway rodent entered the aircraft, and pointed out that it had never happened before on a KLM long-haul service in recent memory.

KLM informed customers that safety protocols had been followed and that the aircraft would remain grounded until the issue was resolved fully.

A representative of the company told a Dutch media outlet that it was “very unfortunate for the passengers who had to experience this”.

In a video clip seen by the Express, passengers can be heard shouting in shock as the rodent makes its way around the cabin.

“The passengers remained calm, and the staff kept a close eye on the animal,” the airline spokesperson said. “The animal also didn’t come near the food.”