Chinese airline Air China condemned for ‘racist’ advice to visitors coming to London its in-flight magazine
Tourists warned about visiting areas in London 'populated by Indians, Pakistanis and black people'
TOURISTS are being warned to take “precautions” when visiting areas in London "populated by Indians, Pakistanis and black people" in a Chinese airline’s in-flight magazine.
Air China included the “advice” as part of a feature on visiting our capital city.
The article in Wings of China magazine also said tourists should not go out alone at night, and advised “females to always be accompanied by another person” when travelling.
A London MP has written to the Chinese ambassador asking for an apology and has invited Air China staff to visit his constituency.
The piece was noticed by Beijing-based journalist Haze Fan from American news channel CNBC while she was travelling with colleagues .
Air China has not commented on the article.
The airline is China’s third largest and operates two flights per day from Beijing to London Heathrow.
Virendra Sharma is the Labour MP for Ealing Southall, an area which has a high Indian population, and has asked for the magazine to be removed from circulation.
He told the BBC: "I am shocked and appalled that even today some people would see it as acceptable to write such blatantly untrue and racist statements.
"I have invited representatives of Air China to visit my constituency of Ealing Southall to see that a very multi-cultural area is safe, and would be of great value for those visiting London to see.
"I will await their response, and if an appropriate one is not forthcoming I shall feel forced to question whether Air China is a fit company to operate in the UK."
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Chinese visitors are big business for Britain, with the number of trips to the UK from China rising by 45.7% last year to 269,631 - according to VisitBritain.
In total the visitors spent more than half-a-billion pounds (£586.22million), an increase of almost 18% on the previous year.
Back in 2013 the Chinese government raised concerns about how its citizens act abroad with one Communist Party official saying the “uncivilised behaviour” of some Chinese tourists abroad are harming the country’s image.
Wang Yang called for authorities to "guide tourists to conscientiously abide by public order and social ethics, respect local religious beliefs and customs, mind their speech and behaviour... and protect the environment".