A technician of a Vietnamese airline has been fined US$325 for stealing a handbag a passenger left on a plane.

The incident happened on a VietJet flight on June 27 departing from the south-central city of Nha Trang to the northern city of Hai Phong.

According to the management authority of Hai Phong’s Cat Bi International Airport, VietJet technician Nguyen Van Ha stole a forgotten handbag from the plane after all passengers had already disembarked.

He made it through internal security screenings, reserved for airline employees, without detection but was later discovered for his action.

Cat Bi airport authority on July 5 slapped Ha with a fine of VND7.5 million ($325) and also fined an employee responsible for monitoring the private security screening for VND4 million ($175).

In the first six months of 2018, the authority of Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City booked 423 cases of forgotten luggage.

In only 108 of those cases was the luggage returned to their owner.

No-frills VietJet Air operated a total of 60,362 flights over the first half of 2018, of which 10,235 were delayed and 66 were canceled, according to quality assessment reports.

Vietjet reported pre-tax profit of VND4.76 trillion (US$209.10 million) last year, up 75.9 percent.

The company, which has a fleet of 55 A320 and A321 aircraft, now operates 385 flights on 82 domestic and international routes.

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