A Vietjet plane heading to South Korea had to return to Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat Airport after a passenger had breathing problems.

The VJ862 flight which departed at 2.40am on Wednesday had to return after 25 minutes when a 30-year-old female passenger was found with breathing problems, a representative from the airline said.

The onboard airline team tried to carry out first aid efforts with the passenger who was said to have heart problems but her situation did not improve. And the captain decided an emergency landing to take the woman to hospital.

The plane then had to fly over the airport for over an hour for fuel dumping before landing at 4.40 am.

The passenger received care at the airport before being sent to a local hospital.

The crew and passengers then had to wait for another three hours for a new flight.

"This situation might have been expensive for us and also affected nearly 200 passengers, but we had to prioritise a passenger’s life," the representative said.

The airline also warned passengers with heart, stroke, respiratory or other serious health problems to report their health history when booking in order to receive essential advice and first aid.

dtinews