File photo:Air China

 
A chartered flight carrying evacuated Chinese students and nationals from Ukraine landed in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang Province on Saturday. This was the first of a series of chartered flights sent by China to evacuate Chinese nationals after the country moved more than 3,000 Chinese citizens safely from Ukraine to neighboring countries.

Flight CA702 took off from Romania's capital of Bucharest at 20:08 (Beijing time) on Friday, according to data sent by VariFlight to the Global Times. The flight was delayed by 48 minutes.

Another flight is expected to land in Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan Province at 10:15 am on Saturday. Both the flights are operated by Air China. 

Air China's charter flights use Airbus A330-300 planes with a maximum capacity of 301 passengers, according to media reports. 

Two Chinese students who were studying in Ukraine were among the first to arrive back in China. They told The Paper before boarding the flight that their recent experience was like a dream. They expressed their appreciation to the motherland and the Chinese embassy as well as all the people who have helped them. "We wish for peace and no more war," they noted.

Nearly all Chinese nationals have been evacuated from Ukraine as of Thursday afternoon, the Chinese Embassy in Ukraine confirmed with the Global Times, saying that the Ukrainian government has arranged a special train for the evacuation of 180 Chinese students in Kharkiv.

In addition to the two flights, another four chartered flights on Saturday and Sunday will carry more Chinese back from Romania, according to data provided by VariFlight. 

Two flights will be operated by China Eastern Airlines and will take off on Saturday and land in Lanzhou, Northwest China's Gansu Province and Ji'nan, East China's Shandong Province. The other two flights on Sunday will be operated by Hainan Airlines, landing in Hangzhou and Ji'nan.