An Air China source said the move came after the airline received an urgent notice from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs andthe Civil Aviation Administration of China.

The Beijing-based airliner said it would use two Boeing 777 aircraft to pick up passengers from Utapao Airport near Pattaya, about 150 km east of Bangkok.

Earlier on Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in a press release that China would arrange flights to bring back Chinese passengers stranded in Bangkok.

"In view of the closure of the Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok, the Chinese government has switched on its emergency response mechanism and is preparing to send chartered planes to bring back Chinese citizens as soon as possible," he said.

"The Chinese government is now checking out the information about the stranded Chinese citizens and arranging an airport for the landing of the planes."

Many foreigners are stranded in Bangkok after anti-government protesters in Thailand laid siege to the country's main international airport.

Among the trapped foreigners are more than 1,000 Chinese citizens, including tourists from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government had arranged two Cathay Pacific flights to help stranded passengers and the first flight had already brought back some 500 Hong Kong residents from Thailand on Friday night.

The HKSAR government also said a second such flight was expected to arrive in Hong Kong on Saturday afternoon.