The world’s leading tour operator TUI has extended until Friday inclusive the cancellation of all its stays in Rhodes, likeeasyJet holidays And Jet2 Holidaysall sending empty planes to the fire-stricken island to repatriate the tourists.
Evacuations of tourists continued all day on July 24, 2024 at the airport of Rhodes-Diagorasthe group TUI in particular announcing the extension of flight cancellations to the Greek island until Friday 28 inclusive. Vacationers “cannot currently stay in the area affected by the forest fires south of Rhodes”, underlines the tour operator, recalling that it is not yet known when the hotels will reopen there. For the approximately 40,000 TUI customers on site (less than 8,000 affected), the water and electricity supply remains unstable on the island.
“Given this uncertain situation and because TUI cannot offer the on-site service that travelers can expect”, the German group has therefore decided to cancel all holiday packages to Rhodes until Friday July 28 included(French customers are more concentrated in the north, he said on Sunday). “All travelers concerned will receive a personal message on this subject”, TUI wishing to welcome them “as much as possible and, if you wish, to offer alternative holidays”. The scheduled flights will always be operated on the scheduled dates, in empty planes to pick up travelers on site.
Important update on the situation in #Rhodes https://t.co/4WS73seGLH
—TUI Group (@TUIGroup) July 24, 2023
The tour operator’s British competitors easyJet holidays And Jet2 Holidays have already announced similar measures, until Saturday 29 for the first (which will operate an additional repatriation flight this Tuesday) and until Sunday 30 for the second. In both cases, the flights scheduled to leave Rhodes are operated empty on the outward journey, and maintained for the return trips.
Also in Greece, fires broke out in also in the north of Corfu Island, but after a brief evacuation of their hotel for just over 2300 tourists, the situation returned to normal. Three flights of Transavia France, easyJet And Ryanair were diverted to Preveza and one ofAir France to Athens in the middle of the afternoon, only one rotation being canceled (easyJet from Milan) during the day on Monday according to Flightradar24.
