Vietnam Airlines aircrew are no longer allowed to use large-sized suitcases while they are on duty on international flights, the Vietnam Airlines Corporation (VNA) said on Monday, due to a directive apparently intended to improve the carrier’s reputation following recent smuggling cases involving its flight attendants.

The tightened rule affects both pilots and cabin crew members, according to VNA, which operates the country’s national flagship carrier Vietnam Airlines.

As of Monday, all VNA flight crews on duty on short and medium international flights must only carry flight bags and small-sized wheeled luggage, the document reads.

Pilots and flight attendants are also requested to store handbags containing their jackets inside their flight bags or luggage.

The aircrew will only be allowed to use large suitcases when they work on long-haul flights to Australia and the EU, or special flights with long stays in other countries. They must also put handbags containing their jackets in their flight bags or suitcases.

VNA aircrew members used to be allowed to bring a carry-on baggage suitcase and checked luggage which weighs no more than 32kg while on duty, VNA spokesman Le Truong Giang told reporters on Monday.

After several cases in which Vietnamese flight attendants were caught bringing illegal and smuggled products from other countries into Vietnam, VNA decided to tighten regulations to minimize the chance that aircrew are involved in such cases, Giang added.

“Even though these are individual violations, they do have a negative impact on VNA’s reputation and thus have to be strictly penalized as per current laws,” VNA said in a statement.

VNA’s international network currently consists of 53 air routes to 29 destinations in Asia, Europe, and Australia, Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper reported.

Aircrew are allowed to stay in their destination countries for at least 24 hours following each flight, and some pilots and flight attendants have taken advantage of this period to bring goods back to Vietnam for sale, the newspaper said.

A VNA official said the new policy was born from the idea of the flight crew and cabin crew division.

But some pilots and flight attendants, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Tuoi Tre that the directive is “unreasonable and disrespectful to employees.”

A VNA stewardess said the ban is ineffective as there will be ways for flight attendants to smuggle goods to Vietnam if they really wish to.

Many other air hostesses said putting their jackets into their flight bags and suitcases will leave no space for other necessary stuff.

VNA attendant allegedly involved in theft in Japan On February 27, Japan’s Sankei Shimbun newspaper reported that a flight attendant of the flag carrier Vietnam Airlines was under suspicion of buying goods stolen by a Vietnamese ring in Tokyo. The newspaper alleged that the flight crew member had helped transfer cosmetics stolen by four Vietnamese nationals, arrested by local police in December 2013, back to Vietnam. In response, VNA spokesman Le Truong Giang said the company has yet to receive any official request for an investigation from the Japanese side, adding that the carrier is willing to cooperate.