A reporter from the Thai newspaper Matichon, who said they were on the Boeing 777, reported that the air conditioning malfunctioned.

Over the next three hours, passengers began sweating and taking off their clothes, the report added.

A sports therapist shared videos of the turmoil on Instagram, showing uncomfortable passengers fanning themselves to cool down.

“Passengers were literally dehydrating and passing out on the plane,” he wrote. “Damian [a man featured in one of the videos] is a fit, conditioned athlete, imagine the stress and danger for any normal individual.”

Other images obtained by The Sun showed a shirtless man covered in beads of sweat.

It reported that passengers were let off the plane after three hours. The flight landed in Doha on Tuesday morning, 16 hours later than scheduled, per data from Flightradar24.

The heatwave in Athens has seen the Acropolis closed for five hours, schools shut, and garbage collection also halted, with temperatures forecast to reach 39 degrees. Monday’s incident highlights how the climate crisis, causing more frequent heatwaves, could pose problems for airlines and passengers.

“Qatar Airways sincerely apologises for the delay to passengers travelling on flight QR204 from Athens (ATH) to Doha (DOH) on Monday, 10 June 2024, which was due to a technical issue,” an airline spokesperson said in a statement.

They said passengers were asked to deplane and were supported by Qatar staff while the problem was fixed. In Doha, “we extended our full support to all affected passengers upon arrival to ensure smooth onwards connections to their final destination”, they added.

“We regard the safety and comfort of our passengers and crew as our highest priority at all times, and have offered our apologies to each passenger affected by this unforeseen disruption and the inconvenience caused,” they said.

“Additionally, passengers have been informed of their compensation entitlements in line with the applicable regulations.”