A flight from New York to Tel Aviv was delayed by half an hour last week after a group of male ultra-Orthodox Jewish passengers refused to sit next to women, the third such incident in recent months.

The cabin crew on the Delta flight out of John F. Kennedy Airport tried to find seats for the men, but were met with refusal by other passengers, some of whom who took a dim view of the reasoning behind the request.

The incident took place on Delta flight 468 on 20 December, the Israeli publication The Times of Israel reports. An American passenger ultimately switched seats with the men.

This is the third widely reported incident in the last few months in which ultra-Orthodox Jewish men have delayed a flight by asking tobe segregated from women.

On the eve of the Jewish festival Rosh Hashana in October, a flight, also between New York and Tel Aviv, was delayed by an hour after a group of Haredim refused to sit next to women.

In this case, passengers ultimately left the plane before take-off.

A month earlier in September an El Al flight descended into an “11-hour long nightmare” after a group of Haredi Jewish passengers refused to sit next to women.

The ultra-Orthodox passengers, also travelling between New York and Tel Aviv, agreed to sit in their assigned seats for take-off but only after delaying the plane and offering money to switch seats with other passengers.

A Delta airlines plane is seen taking off while the fleets other planes sit on the tarmac at JFK Airport,