Thousands of people have had to be evacuated from the Greek island (Pictures: Reuters/Getty)
Flights to Rhodes have been cancelled as wildfires continue to rip through the Greek island.
Thousands of people, including British tourists, were evacuated yesterday, after a wildfire which has been raging for six days turned towards the coast.
Jet2 has now cancelled five flights which were due to depart for Rhodes today and TUI has axed all flights until Tuesday, with customers scheduled to travel on Wednesday offered the option to cancel or rebook for free.
Jet2 said: ‘We will be contacting affected customers to update them, and to let them know that they will be provided with a full refund and the opportunity to rebook.
‘We will fly those five aircraft to Rhodes with no customers onboard, so that we can bring customers back to the UK on their scheduled flight.
‘We are keeping the situation under constant review, and we will continue to make decisions in the best interests of our customers.’
TUI said: ‘TUI is taking care of its guests and employees as well as possible, we are in close contact with local authorities. We also extend our thanks to the many men and women who are currently fighting against the wildfires.
Smoke rising from a burnt hotel complex in the Kiotari area on Saturday (Picture: Getty)
Tourists being evacuated because of the fire burning near Lindos (Picture: Reuters)
‘Meanwhile, we are working hard to organise hotel accommodation and shelter in other areas of the island. We provide water and supplies where needed and our teams are present on the ground. Northern touristic areas of Rhodes are unaffected.’
Ryanair and easyJet are still running direct flights to Rhodes but easyJet has said customers who have bookings up until July 29 can transfer their trip to another date for free or request a flight voucher.
The budget airline has also cancelled package holidays departing up to and including Tuesday – it said it has ‘proactively contacted impacted customers’.
Ryanair said: ‘Ryanair flights to/from Rhodes Airport are currently operating as normal and unaffected by the forest fires.
‘Passengers departing from Rhodes should be advised that we will accept temporary travel documentation issued by the Greek Police.
‘The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also set up a helpdesk at Rhodes airport to assist visitors who have lost their travel documents.
‘Please check your Ryanair app where you will be notified of any changes to your Ryanair flight.’
Firefighter teams working to put out the fire which has been raging for six days (Picture: Getty)
easyJet and Ryanair are still operating flights to Rhodes as normal (Picture: Google)
Full statement from easyJet:
We know the situation for many currently in Rhodes is very difficult so we are doing all we can to help customers and provide assistance.
easyJet is currently operating flights as normal to Rhodes however we continue to monitor the situation closely. We advise customers travelling to and from Rhodes to check the status of their flights on Flight Tracker, and also keep checking Government travel advice here.
Any customers who are booked to travel to or from Rhodes until 29 July can transfer for free to another date or can request a flight voucher for the value of their unused flights, by calling easyJet Customer Services.
easyJet holidays is currently working to comply with requests of the local authorities and is in contact with customers in resort to support them. We are working round the clock to arrange transfers, manage our customers’ flights, and return customers to hotels when it is safe to do so.
We have unfortunately had to cancel package holidays departing up to and including Tuesday, and we’ve proactively contacted impacted customers. We are also contacting customers due to travel to Rhodes up to 29 July to discuss their options.
The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is easyJet’s highest priority.
Rhodes, one of Greece’s most popular summer vacation spots for Brits, is known for its sandy beaches, ancient temples and nightclubs.
But for days, thousands of people have been forced to flee from seaside villages amid wildfires, with officials saying they have impacted about one in 10 tourists.
Footage from Kiotari and Lardo resorts has shown sightseers against a murky orange sky dragging suitcases or fleeing hotels without their luggage at all.
Others have described waking up today to ash falling on them from above as wildfires raged for the sixth night.
Preliminary police data suggests 16,000 people have been evacuated over land and 3,000 by sea.
Orders to leave homes and hotels in Asklepiio and Kiotari and move to Gennadi were issued at 1:42pm yesterday, the Greek news agency ANA-MPA reported.
Greek police say it’s the country’s largest-ever evacuation operation in response to a fire (Picture: AP)
A wildfire burns in a forest near Lardos (Picture: Reuters)
Tourists waiting to be evacuated on Saturday (Picture: Getty)
Greece’s Ministry for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection said the evacuation ‘took place without problem’ and ‘care has been taken for the accommodation of those who had to be removed’.
Nine people have been admitted to hospital with breathing problems, regional health officials said.
British mum Debbie Antoine described feeling helpless while her family remain ‘stranded’ in Rhodes.
Her daughter, Kelly Nicholls, who is staying at a five-star hotel along the upscale Kiotari beach strip, has lost ‘everything’.
‘Kell, her husband and two young children along with another family of four had to run for their lives from the Princess Andriana Resort & Spa,’ Debbie told The Mirror.
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‘They have walked for miles to escape and no one except local people have given them drinks,’ she said, adding that they have been sleeping on sun beds.
‘The hotel gave them towels and nothing else, no food or drink,’ Debbie added.
‘They are literally stranded and have lost everything as they ran in their swimwear.’
The British Embassy in Athens said it is ‘closely monitoring the wildfire in Rhodes’.
The Foreign Office’s travel advice for Greece adds: ‘If you are a British national affected by wildfires in Rhodes near Kiotari, Pefkoi, Lindos and the surrounding area, please follow the guidance from the emergency services.
‘If you are planning to travel to Rhodes, please check with your travel operator or hotel prior to travel that the area you plan to visit is not impacted by the current wildfires.’
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Ryanair and easyJet are still running direct flights to Rhodes.
