Air China has withdrawn an inflight magazine that contained an article advising people to exercise caution when visiting areas of London "mainly populated by Indians, Pakistanis and black people".

The advice in the state-owned carrier's magazine Wings of China came to light after Beijing-based journalist Haze Fan posted a picture of the guide to the UK capital on Twitter.

Social media users were quick to pick up on the article, with some describing it as "ignorant" and "blatantly racist".

An MP called for an apology from Air China and said he was shocked to see such "blatantly untrue and racist statements".

China's flag carrier said in an email to The Associated Press that the issue used "inappropriate" language and that the article didn't represent the airline's views.


"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.

Air China also forwarded an email from the magazine's publisher apologising to Air China and saying the error had occurred as a result of an "editing mistake".

The excerpt had read: "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 travelling."

Ms Fan, a news and documentary producer for US channel CNBC, tweeted the picture and copied in London Mayor Sadiq Khan, whose late father was an immigrant from Pakistan, asking for his opinion.

Virendra Sharma, Labour MP for Ealing Southall, told Sky News he felt very offended by the issue, which he has raised with the Chinese ambassador to the UK.

"I felt very insulted that they used those terms to highlight that the areas with the Pakistani, Indian and black communities are the areas that are not safe to move in," he said.

"I'm glad they have publicly apologised and recognise that this is not the language that people accept, and they should not be using those kinds of words in the future,

"This is a blanket statement made by people who are trying to undermine the work of the police, the mayor, and other institutions working for the safety and the security of all citizens."

Air China has 98 international routes and two flights per day from Beijing to London Heathrow.

Figures from VisitBritain show the number of trips to the UK from China rose by 46% last year to 270,000.