Wildfires in the south-east of Rhodes have filled media outlets over the past week as airlines, tour-operators and hoteliers work to help provide information to those affected by the situation.
NI Travel News have provided a round-up of news relating to the developments from those travelling to and from Northern Ireland.
Foreign Office Advice
The Foreign Office have released a statement regarding the current situation in Rhodes, Greece as wildfires continues to blaze in the south-east of the country.
Many British holiday-makers flock to the greek islands over the summer months to experience sand, sea and hot temperatures.
TUI and Jet2 have both cancelled flights to Rhodes as many of the tour operators’ hotels fall within the wildfire area.
In the statement, the Foreign Office (FCDO) said:
“The FCDO has deployed a rapid development team of 5 FCDO staff and 4 British Red Cross responders to Rhodes to support British nationals whose safety is our top priority. They will be based at Rhodes International Airport to assist with travel documents and liaise greek authorities and travel operators on the ground”.
Many have lost travel documents whilst evacuating the area and making their way to Rhodes International Airport in the north of the Island.
It is important to note that only 10% of the Island has been affected by the fires, with the north of the island not experiencing any fires at the moment.
Airlines
easyJet announced it would operate repatriation flights to bring home British holidaymakers affected by the wildfires Rhodes. Flights are still operating for customers booked to travel to or from Rhodes before July 29, but if they would like to change their plans, customers can change the date of their flight or request a flight voucher.
Jet2 released an update in regards to the wildfires in central and south eastern areas of Rhodes.
By the end of Wednesday 26th July, Jet2.com have operated 20 flights to the UK from Rhodes so far – a combination of repatriation flights and scheduled flights – which have continued to meet the demand we have seen.
Jet2 continue to fly aircraft to Rhodes with no customers onboard, so that the airline can bring customers back to the UK on their scheduled flights, as well as any additional Jet2 customers who wish to return to the UK.
The expanded team of colleagues in Rhodes, highly visible in their red uniforms, continue to be present throughout resorts and at Rhodes Airport to look after customers.
All flights and holidays to Rhodes remain cancelled up to and including Sunday 30th July. The Jet2 team have already contacted affected customers with regards to their refund and rebooking options.
TUI have also released an updated statement regarding the wildfires across Rhodes.Greece.
In a statement on the airlines website, TUI said:
“We’re continuing to closely monitor the wildfires in Rhodes which led to the evacuation of a number of hotels in the South of the island and have made some changes to our holiday programme in the coming days. We appreciate that anyone travelling to Rhodes in the near future may be concerned about their holiday, and we want to keep you updated on our plans and will be in direct contact with customers if anything changes.
We will not be operating all outbound flights to Rhodes up to and including Friday 28th July.”
The airline as also said it will not operate holidays for customers travelling to impacted hotels in the South of the island up to and including Friday 11th August.
Ryanair also released a statement similar to easyJet:
“Ryanair flights to/from Rhodes 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.”
Government involvement
UK Transport Secretary Mark Harper has met with UK tour operators and airline officials to discuss the repatriation of tourists from the areas affected by the fires.
Taking to twitter, Mark Harper stated that “This evening I spoke to British Airways, TUI, Jet2, Ryanair and easyJet to discuss their response to the Rhodes fires, I welcome the additional flights they’re putting on to help bring British travellers home safely.”
Operators and airlines have added more repatriation flights to bring holidaymakers back.
Jet2 and Jet2 Holidays operated four flights on Monday (24 July) evening, two flights to Leeds Bradford, one to Manchester and one to Birmingham. The Rhodes to Belfast flight departed on July 25.
