Foreign and Military Affairs

15 planes sent per day to evacuate Chinese from Libya

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-02-27 07:50

BEIJING - China on Saturday decided to hasten evacuation of its nationals from Libya, as Chinese aviation authorities prepare 15 planes per day during the next two weeks to carry home citizens stranded in the northern African country.

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The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) convened an emergency meeting in Beijing on Saturday and decided to send the extra aircraft every day from Feb 28 to March 10 to neighboring countries near Libya for the massive evacuation.

In line with the CAAC's arrangements, China's major airlines will carry out the airborne evacuation missions and bring home stranded Chinese citizens as soon as possible.

During the period, Air China will send five passenger planes every day to the island of Crete, Greece. China Eastern Airlines will fly four planes every day to Malta. China Southern Airlines will dispatch four planes to the island of Djerba, Tunisia; and Hainan Airlines will also fly two planes daily to Crete, Greece.

As of Saturday afternoon, nearly 16,000 Chinese citizens were evacuated from Libya, according to the Foreign Ministry.