File photo: CGTN

BEIJING, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- China has dispatched 12 charter flights to fly more than 1,500 stranded Hubei residents home from overseas following the novel coronavirus outbreak, a civil aviation official said Thursday.

Yu Biao, an official with the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), told a press conference that the administration will arrange more chartered planes to pick up the Chinese tourists who are still stranded abroad with the support of embassies and consulates overseas, as well as cultural and tourism departments.

The CAAC is fully capable of the task and is ready to take on the responsibility, he added.