A Chinese man aboard a Vietnamese flight has been detained for rummaging through the luggage of another passenger.

Li Jun, a 51-year-old Chinese passenger on board flight VN287 from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi of national carrier Vietnam Airlines, was arrested at 10:25 am on Tuesday after being caught red-handed searching through the cabin baggage of another flyer.

After boarding the plane, Li started wandering around before pulling out a suitcase in the overhead locker and rummage through it.

Some passengers noticed the action and reported it to the cabin crew, resulting in Captain Bui Xuan Hung keeping operators of Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City informed of the incident.

The Chinese passenger was later apprehended by airport security guards for investigation and denied services provided by Vietnam Airlines.

According to a leader of the Southern Airports Authority, the foreigner would only be charged for rummaging through the suitcase as he had not stolen anything from the baggage.

The situation is not unprecedented as a Chinese man named Zhang Hui was previously caught looking through the baggage of another passenger on flight VN 166 from the central city of Da Nang to Hanoi on Sunday last week.

Earlier on November 1, Dong Jiayin, a 36-year-old Chinese national, was discovered stealing from another passenger during their Vietnam Airlines flight from Hong Kong to Ho Chi Minh City.

Dong was expelled from the Southeast Asian country by competent agencies at Tan Son Nhat the following day.