BEIJING - Two planes flew 456 more Chinese nationals back to Beijing early Wednesday, allowing them to rejoin their families on the eve of Chinese lunar New Year.

A plane carrying Chinese nationals who were stranded in Egypt arrives at Beijing Capital International Airport, in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 1, 2011. The second plane will arrive in south China's Guangzhou city later Tuesday. The two planes carry a total of 480 Chinese nationals.  [Photo/Xinhua]

The two airliners landed at the Beijing Capital International Airport at 2:09 a.m. and 6:25 a.m. respectively, amid the atmosphere of the Spring Festival, the most important occasion for family reunion which falls on Thursday.

These Air China flights were another strive of the Chinese government and airline operators to get stranded Chinese nationals out of Egypt, where anti-government demonstrations have led to chaos in several major cities including Cairo.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China, China's aviation authority, said in a Tuesday statement that China had arranged six flights to take stranded Chinese nationals home.

Previously, another two flights took 480 Chinese from Cairo to Beijing and the southern city of Guangzhou respectively on Tuesday and there are still about 300 Chinese nationals staying in Cairo.