Air China says it has removed copies of its inflight magazine containing an article that told visitors to take precautions when visiting areas of London with large ethnic-minority populations.

The airline said Thursday the magazine used "inappropriate" language and said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that the article didn't represent its views. It also forwarded an email from the magazine's publisher apologizing to Air China and saying the fault lay with an "editing mistake."

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

A British lawmaker said Wednesday that he had written to China's ambassador to Britain, demanding an apology for the "blatantly untrue and racist statements."