Air China removes 'inappropriate' magazine criticised for 'racist' advice

Air China says it has removed copies of an in-flight magazine which suggested visitors to London should take precautions in areas where "Indians, Pakistanis and black people" live.

The airline said the language used in the "Wings of China" magazine was "inappropriate" and did not represent its views.

The magazine's publisher, China Aviation Media Co. Ltd, apologised to Air China, saying the fault lay with an "editing mistake".

The original article said: "London is generally a safe place to travel, however precautions are needed when entering areas mainly populated by Indians, Pakistanis and black people.

"We advise tourists not to go out alone at night, and females always to be accompanied by another person when traveling."

The article drew widespread criticism and prompted the swift retraction by Air China.

"After discovering this problem, Air China immediately removed this magazine from all flights and demanded that the publishers of 'Wings of China' seriously learn from this lesson, strengthen their content review and avoid making similar mistakes," the airline said.

In its apology, the publisher said the article ran "counter to our original intention to promote the beautiful scenes of London."

China Aviation Media said in a statement: "It has brought about misunderstanding from some media outlets and readers and also a huge negative impact on your company's business operations and image. We deeply apologise for that."

Asked about the magazine's advice, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the government only issues tourist alerts to people "travelling to high risk areas like war zones".

She said the Chinese government "resolutely opposes all forms of racial discrimination".