Sweltering passengers were stuck on a plane without air con in China.

Hundreds of travellers aboard a Hainan Airlines domestic flight were left inside a Boeing 737 without air conditioning before take-off at Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport.

Footage shows people fanning themselves with safety cards and newspapers as they sweated inside the cabin for nearly an hour while waiting for the external power unit to be activated.

The filmer said: 'The whole cabin felt like a steamer. Many children and elderly people couldn't handle it.

'There was another delay prior to this, and the next stop is a transfer. This is the first time I've experienced such a situation.'

The flight eventually departed after the delay.

Local media reported that the disruption was caused by thunderstorms in Fujian on May 6.

Xiamen Gaoqi Airport was shrouded in strong convective storm clouds, forcing nearly all incoming planes to circle or divert. Some aircraft circled more than a dozen times before rerouting to Fuzhou or Chaoshan regional airports.

As one of China's busiest single-runway airports, Xiamen Gaoqi faced heavy congestion, while Fuzhou Airport struggled to accommodate the sudden influx of diverted flights. Jet bridges were fully occupied, and aircraft queued on remote stands awaiting ground equipment.

One Xiamen Airlines flight from Shenyang attempted to land during the storm, descending to just a few hundred metres above the runway before being forced to abort and divert due to the hazardous conditions.