Air China under fire for ‘racist’ comments about London
London MPs are demanding an apology from Air China after accusing it of making racist statements about the city in its in-flight magazine.
An article on the UK capital warned passengers to take precautions when visiting areas mainly populated by ‘Indians, Pakistanis and black people’.
It also advised tourists not to go out alone at night, and said women should always be accompanied when travelling.
Virendra Sharma, MP for Ealing, Southall, has written to the Chinese Ambassador to demand an apology from Air China for ‘blatant racism’.
"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.
"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."
He said he has invited representatives of Air China to visit his 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.
His comments were echoed by Rosena Allin-Khan, Labour MP for Tooting.
Air China operates two daily flights from Beijing to London Heathrow.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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