Airbus has issued an apology after complaints arose from Chinese visitors who claimed they were denied access to view a German military plane during the Singapore Airshow over the weekend.
The incident, which went viral on Chinese social media platform Weibo, involved visitors being turned away from an Airbus A400M transport aircraft belonging to the German air force.
According to the posts on Weibo, some Chinese visitors alleged that they were stopped from viewing the aircraft, with staff reportedly checking the nationalities of visitors who appeared to be Chinese. It was claimed that Russian visitors were also denied access to the aircraft.
A Weibo user reported being turned away from viewing an aircraft after being identified as Chinese, with staff allegedly singling out Chinese visitors and refusing them entry due to “military restrictions”.
Another user with the username “PLAN_DDG172” recounted a similar experience, in which personnel shouted “Chinese, go out!” and German soldiers on board physically pushed him away from the aircraft.
The video : A Chinese blogger filmed a video showing a woman wearing Airbus identification refusing entry to Chinese visitors on a German military aircraft at an air show. The woman cited “German rules” and “military restrictions” as reasons for not allowing them on board. Other Chinese visitors have also claimed similar experiences. The German embassy in Singapore referred questions to Airbus, who did not respond to inquiries about the incident immediately but later apologized. Chinese commenters on social media criticized Airbus and the German military for alleged discrimination against Chinese visitors.
The A400M is described by Airbus as its “most advanced, proven and certified airlifter available” with both tactical airlift and strategic airlift capabilities. The incident occurred during the public opening day of the Singapore Airshow, which drew more than 30,000 visitors on Saturday.
In response to the complaints, Airbus issued a statement on its official Weibo account, acknowledging the situation and stating that they swiftly improved the visit process to ensure the aircraft was open to all visitors.
“We noticed that during the public opening day of the Singapore Airshow, some visitors had questions about the visit of an A400M military transport aircraft,” Airbus said.
“After learning about this situation, we immediately communicated and coordinated with relevant parties, promptly improved the visit process, and ensured that the aircraft was open to all visitors. We deeply regret the inconvenience caused by previous on-site work and thank everyone for your continued attention and feedback,” it added.
Chinese visitors were reportedly able to visit the A400M aircraft “freely” from Saturday afternoon onwards, as reported by Chinese daily The Global Times. The Singapore Airshow also featured the global debut of China’s first airliner C919, with Tibet Airlines finalizing an order for 40 C919 jets and 10 ARJ21 regional jets at the event.
Via 前站起飞/Douyin PLAN_DDG172/Weibo
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