Thousands of passengers endured sweltering heat as the aircon system conked out at a notorious airport in the Philippines.

Footage shows dozens of travellers fanning themselves as they waited in queues at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 early on Wednesday morning, July 17.

Some had likened the heat to the scorching temperatures in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East.

In an earlier statement, the state-run Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) said the cooling system will be turned off for 12 hours from 9 pm local time on July 16 to install new cooling towers.

The statement read: 'During this period, only the fans and blowers of the air-conditioning units will operate to enable air circulation in various areas. The felt temperature may not also reach optimal comfort levels at said time. To mitigate this, stand-alone air conditioning units will be deployed in various areas of the terminal for spot cooling as backup.

'Once the new cooling towers are fully integrated into the chilled water system, it is expected that normal and more efficient operation of the air-conditioning units will be gradually restored.'

Around 27,000 passengers were expected to be affected by the airconditioning upgrades, and teams were on standby for any medical emergencies that may arise, MIAA said.

MIAA general manager Eric Ines said: 'The upgrades are intended to bolster the terminal's capability to maintain ideal temperatures efficiently, thereby ensuring a more pleasant experience for all airport users.'

American luggage app Bounce listed the state-run Ninoy Aquino International Airport as the world's worst airport for business class travellers in 2022. It ranked bottom 38th out of 38 busy airports all over the world.

This year, it was ranked '4th worst airport in Asia' for business travellers by UK website businessfinancing.co.uk, citing passenger reviews for international airports from airlinequality.com.

Dozens of videos have emerged of rats scurrying through the waiting area, bed bugs infestations on benches and even passengers running naked through security checks.

One business traveller said: 'The lounge was a joke. It was like an East London cafe, which is fine, but not when you've paid top whack for a ticket.'