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Chinese tourists barred from Airbus’ German air force plane at Singapore Airshow due to ‘military restrictions’
- Some Chinese visitors complained on Weibo that they were turned away from an Airbus A400M transport aircraft belonging to the German air force
- After learning of the alleged incident, Airbus issued an apology and improved the visiting process to ensure ‘the aircraft was open to all visitors’, it said
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Airbus has apologised after some Chinese visitors claimed they were stopped from viewing a German military plane during the Singapore Airshow over the weekend, when the event was open to the public.
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In posts that have since gone viral on Chinese social media, some visitors complained on Weibo that they were turned away from an Airbus A400M transport aircraft belonging to the German air force.
They also claimed that Russian visitors were also denied access.
According to Airbus, the A400M is its “most advanced, proven and certified airlifter available”. The aircraft has both tactical airlift – transport of personnel and goods into theatres of operation – and strategic airlift – transport of assets like outsize and heavy vehicles or equipment – capabilities.
The European Commission said last month it had put forward several proposals to bolster the European Union’s economic security, including understanding how “advanced technologies can be used to enhance military capacities of actors who may use these against the EU”.
One Weibo user wrote on Saturday that he was turned away after queuing up to view the aircraft, with staff checking the nationalities of visitors who looked Chinese.
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Chinese visitors were allegedly singled out, with staff apparently saying “Chinese go out” to those in the queue, he added.
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