Air China slammed for 'racist' guide to London
Air China has come under fire in Britain for an article in its in-flight magazine.
The article tells visitors to take precautions in areas of London with large ethnic-minority populations.
The airline's "Wings of China" magazine reportedly provides safety advice to travellers based on the race and nationality of local residents.
"London is generally a safe place to travel, however precautions are needed when entering areas mainly populated by Indians, Pakistanis and black people," the magazine says, according to a photograph published by CNBC.
"We advise tourists not to go out alone at night, and females always to be accompanied by another person when travelling," the magazine adds.
The description prompted London MP Virendra Sharma, who emigrated from India to the UK in the 1960s, to complain to the Chinese government.
"I am shocked and appalled that even today some people would see it as acceptable to write such blatantly untrue and racist statements," he said in an online statement.
"I have raised this issue with the Chinese ambassador, and requested that he ensures an apology is swiftly forthcoming from Air China, and the magazine is removed from circulation immediately," Sharma said.
Air China released a statement to Twitter apologising for the offensive language.
“We at Air China Limited do not condone discrimination in any shape or form,” the statement read.
“We regret and apologise for the offensive language contained in the current issue of our first in-flight magazine.
“Copies of this magazine have been or are being removed from all of our flights.
Air China also said they have raised the issue with the publisher of the magazine, which is a separate entity of the company.
“Proper action will be taken to prevent this from happening again.”
The article comes during a period of tension between Beijing and London.
