School holidays is peak time for air-rage incidents, with passengers firing up due to missed flights, travel delays and baggage issues.

Outside the terminal there's violent behaviour and disputes over taxis and rideshare vehicles.

Police have seized 746 prohibited items including guns, knives, knuckledusters, ammunition and ninja stars, from airports in Australia's capital cities during the past seven months.

Melbourne leads the way with 218 items seized, followed by Sydney (184), Brisbane (138) and Perth (75).

A shooting at Canberra Airport on August 14, was among 14 prohibited item incidents at that location.

The report from the Australian Federal Police (AFP) also revealed officers were called to 628 public disturbance incidents at federal airports.

Melbourne again topped the list with 195 incidents, followed by Sydney (167), Perth (72), Brisbane (61), Adelaide (52), Gold Coast (50), Darwin (18), Canberra (5) and Cairns (5).

AFP officers were called to 120 intoxicated/offensive behaviour incidents across the nine airports. Separately, there were 58 assaults and 90 people caught smoking in a prohibited area.

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With an increase in travellers during school holidays and a trend in passengers creating public disturbances, AFP Commander Peter Bodel has issued a stern warning.

"It is disappointing when a small number of passengers show violent or abusive behaviour towards people who are trying to do their jobs," he said.

Commander Bodel called on travellers to do the right thing and assist airport staff during security processes.

The public are urged to report suspicious behaviour to the AFP's Airport Watch page.

"We encourage passengers and airport staff to revisit Airport Watch and know the signs when something is not right," he said.

The maximum penalty for unruly behaviour on an aircraft is a $9000 fine and for interfering with crew or aircraft is two years' imprisonment.

If you require a police presence at an airport, or wish to report an incident or provide information, call the AFP's Airport Watch on 131 AFP (131 237).