A passenger has appeared in court in Singapore accused of stealing S$31,000 (NZ$37,100) cash from three fellow flyers during a flight from Vietnam to Singapore.

Zhang Xiuqiang, 52, from China, faces charges related to a three-hour Scoot flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Changi Airport on December 16.

He is accused of taking S$50 (NZ$60) and 510 million Vietnamese dong (NZ$33,415) from one passenger’s bag, another US$1000 (NZ$1600) and S$930 (NZ$1115) from inside an envelope in another piece of luggage, and finally S$600 (NZ$720) and 3 million Vietnamese dong (NZ$196) from a backpack.

A spokesperson told CNN that the budget airline was aware of the incident: “Our cabin crew was alerted by a passenger to a suspected theft in the cabin and activated the Airport Police Division.

“The involved passengers were escorted off the aircraft by airport authorities for further investigation, and disembarkation proceeded as usual for the rest of our passengers.”

If found guilty, Zhang faces up to three years’ jail, reported Channel News Asia.

Scoot is the budget carrier of Singapore Airlines. It has a fleet of 57 aircraft and flies to 16 countries and more than 50 airports across Asia, Europe and Oceania. While it does not fly to New Zealand, its destinations include Melbourne, Perth and Sydney in Australia.

Earlier this year, the crew of one Scoot flight were praised after a power bank burst into flames. The incident occurred on the A320 service from Taoyuan airport in Taipei to Singapore.

Video posted on social media shows flames in a row of seats. The crew are seen ushering people to stay out of the way while they put out the blaze.