Airbus apologises after staff asks China visitor 'what's your nationality' at Singapore Airshow

Airbus has issued an apology after several visitors from China called out their staff for barring them from boarding their aircraft at the Singapore Airshow when the event was open to the public. 

A video posted to Weibo on Saturday (Feb 24) shows an Airbus staff asking for a visitor's nationality while he was in the queue for a tour of a German A400M transport aircraft.

"If you want to go inside, you need to give me your nationality," she said.

When the visitor says that he is from China, she tells him that he cannot board the aircraft and starts ushering him out of the queue.

"This is a German aircraft, there is a military restriction," she said.

The video went viral, garnering over 167,000 views.

The Weibo user who posted this video wrote in another post that at he saw least five other Chinese tourists that were not allowed to board the aircraft, including some children.

He added that Russians were also turned away from the aircraft by Airbus staff as well.

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Another user recounted a similar experience in his Weibo post.

He had just entered the aircraft when another Airbus personnel allegedly started exclaiming "Chinese, go out!" while forcing him out.

The user also accused German Air Force soldiers on board the plane of pushing him down the ramp after "finding out about his Chinese nationality".

"The floor was uneven. I twisted my ankle and almost fell off the aircraft," he wrote.

The user said he has since submitted a written complaint to the organisers of the Singapore Airshow 2024.

Airbus apologises

In response to the online criticism it received, Airbus posted a statement to its official Weibo page on Sunday and said that it was aware of visitors' queries regarding the public day of the Singapore Airshow 2024.

"We immediately communicated and coordinated with the customers and our Airbus teams at the show to ensure that the aircraft was open to all visitors for the remainder of the airshow," the aircraft manufacturer said.

"We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused."

Airbus added that it remains committed to being a long-term reliable partner of the Chinese aviation industry and a role model for economic exchange between China and Europe.

Chinese visitors were able to visit the A400M aircraft "freely" from Saturday afternoon, reported The Global Times.

bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com