LUQA, Malta - Two chartered planes of China Eastern Airlines carrying 558 Chinese evacuees from Libya left Malta for Shanghai on Sunday night.

The first Airbus A340 plane with 280 Chinese nationals on board took off from the Malta International Airport at about 6:50 pm local time (1850GMT) and another A330 plane carrying 278 passengers took off 40 minutes later.

The first two chartered planes of China Eastern Airlines carrying 550 Chinese evacuees from Malta arrived at the Hongqiao Airport and the Pudong International Airport respectively on Sunday.

The 1,108-strong Chinese nationals from Chinese construction companies were among a total of 2,216 people who arrived by a ship from violence-torn Libya at the Grand Harbor in Valletta, capital of Malta, on Saturday.

As of the coming Monday, China Eastern Airlines will dispatch at least four chartered planes every day to Malta to pick up Chinese evacuees.