Fury at Rhodes hysteria

Rhodes hysteria: Just 42 hotels have been shut by wildfires as Greece says tourists SHOULD still come to island – despite alarmist warnings including easyJet pilot who told crying holidaymakers to get off flight

• Holiday operator Tui has revealed all 42 hotels affected in south-eastern Rhodes
• Tui had 39,000 guests on Greek island, with 7,800 of them affected by wildfires
• Follow MailOnline’s liveblog for all the latest updates on Rhodes by clicking here 
• ** Booked a summer holiday to Rhodes? Email [email protected] ** 

More than 40 major hotels in Rhodes have been hit by the wildfires, as more British holidaymakers return to the UK from the fire-ravaged island on repatriation flights.

Holiday operator Tui has revealed all 42 sites affected in the south-eastern part of the Greek island – in Kiotari, Gennadin, Plimiri, Lardos, Lindos, Pefkoi and Vlicha.

Tui said all holiday bookings to Rhodes have been cancelled up to and including Friday, with no one flown to the island this week. The firm said it had about 39,000 guests on the island, 7,800 or 20 per cent of whom were affected by the wildfires.

Hundreds of people have already landed at UK airports after parts of the destination went up in flames, forcing many to sleep in schools, airports and sports centres.

But Olga Kefalogianni, Tourism Minister for Greece, has insisted tourists should still fly to Rhodes because there ‘has been no disruption in the airport’ and only 10 to 20 per cent of the island has been affected by the fires. She added that affected hotel accommodation accounted for 15 per cent of the total capacity of the island.

And Housing Secretary Michael Gove insisted that the fires had been ‘restricted to one part of the island’, adding that Rhodes was still safe for British tourists to visit.

Tourists watch on in horror as the Rhodes wildfires take hold and evacuations are carried out

A fire fighting aircraft drops water over a wildfire near Vati in southern Rhodes this morning 

People stand on a pick-up truck as they watch wildfires close to Vati in Rhodes this morning

More than 260 firefighters were still battling flames on Rhodes for an eighth day in a row today, after Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said yesterday that the country faced ‘another three difficult days ahead’ before high temperatures ease.

Hotels affected by Rhodes wildfires 

Kiotari

• Absolute Kiotari Resort
• Boutique 5 Hotel & Spa
• Gonos Villa
• Labranda Kiotari Miraluna
• Lindian Village
• Lindos Imperial Resort & Spa
• Mayia Exclusive Resort & Spa
• Mitsis Hotel Rodos Village
• Mitsis Rodos Maris Resort and Spa
• Princess Andriana Resort & Spa
• Princess Sun Hotel
• Rodos Princess Beach Hotel

Gennadin

• Tui Blue Sensatori
• Ambelia Hotel
• Gennadi Grand
• Plimiri
• Magic Life
• Atrium Prestige

Lardos

• Amaryllis Hotel Lardos
• Lindos Princess
• Cosmos Maris

Lindos

• AquaGrand of Lindos
• Eleni Studios
• Rafael Studios
• Lindos View
• Mitsis Lindos Memories Hotel

Pefkoi

• Amfitriti Hotel and Studios
• Evi Studios
• Finas Hotel and Apartments
• Hotel Ziakis
• Island Blue Hotel
• Lindia Thalassa Resort
• Pefki Islands
• Pefkos Village Resort
• Stella
• White Olive Premium Lindos

Vlicha

• Lindos Blu
• Lindos Grand Resort & Spa
• Lindos Mare
• Lindos Royal
• Lindos Village Resort & Spa
• Lindos White Hotel & Suites
• Tui Blue Lindos Bay

This list was released by Tui last night 

The Rhodes hotels affected include the Rodos Princess Beach Hotel, Mitsis Lindos Memories Hotel, Lindos Royal, Absolute Kiotari Resort and Princess Andriana Resort.

However most other hotels on Rhodes away from the south-east of the island remain open – with airlines continuing to fly in foreign tourists for their summer holidays.

The UK has not discouraged people from going to Rhodes, although some Tories want the Foreign Office to add the island to its ‘red list’ so tourists can get refunds.

A statement from Tui posted on its website last night said: ‘All bookings of TUI holidays to Rhodes will be cancelled up to and including Friday, July 28, 2023. 

‘No guests will be taken to the island up to and including Friday, however aircraft will fly out empty to Rhodes so scheduled inbound flights will take place to bring guests back to their home countries. 

‘Guests with bookings whose holidays start in the coming days up to and including Sunday, July 30, 2023 can rebook for other destinations or cancel their trip free of charge. 

‘We therefore encourage customers with a planned holiday to Rhodes in the coming days, to switch to other destinations. ‘

Thousands of Britons have been rescued from fire-ravaged parts of the island, with more now facing their summer holidays being cancelled.

Repatriation flights landed in the UK overnight and are set to continue today, as holidaymakers spoke of their ‘traumatic’ experiences, being evacuated from hotels and sleeping in schools, airports and sports centres on the popular Greek island.

Ms Kefalogianni was asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme whether people should fly to Corfu, where nearly 2,500 people were also evacuated yesterday.

And she said: ‘But this is also the case for Rhodes, if I may add, because there has been no disruption in the airport and I think it’s particularly important to stress that only a small part of the whole island of Rhodes is affected.

‘It’s approximately an area which is 10 to 20 per cent of the total area of the island. And when it comes to hotel accommodation, so disruption in terms of tourism, it’s 15 per cent of the total capacity of the island.

‘So, yes, indeed, this was the largest evacuation that Greece has ever done, and it happened in a matter of a couple of hours. We’ve coordinated mobilisation of all resources, but everybody is safe.’

As many as 10,000 Britons are estimated to be on the island, the Foreign Office said, with 30,000 due to head there in the next few weeks, according to The Times.

Holiday operators continue to cancel flights and holidays, meaning thousands could be at risk of having their getaway plans scuppered.

German tourists take water from a swimming pool of a hotel in Lindos, Rhodes, yesterday

Tourists queue to get on coaches at the Gennadi Beach area of Rhodes on Saturday

Tourists try to sleep on the floor at an evacuation centre in Rhodes yesterday amid the fires

Fire fighting crews working near close to the wildfire on the island of Rhodes yesterday

James Swanson with his wife Sarah, and two children, Caitlin, 15 and Harry, 11, on Rhodes

Today it emerged that an easyJet pilot heading to Rhodes had issued a stern warning to Brits on his plane. 

How travel firms are helping British tourists

Flights rescuing British holidaymakers in Rhodes have begun arriving in the UK, as wildfires ravage parts of the Greek island. Some people have complained about a lack of information from travel companies on how the incident will affect them. How have different firms responded to the emergency?

– Jet2

Jet2 announced it would operate four repatriation flights from Rhodes to bring holidaymakers back to the UK. They took hundreds of people to Manchester, Leeds Bradford and Birmingham yesterday evening. It comes after a flight carrying 95 passengers landed at Leeds Bradford on Sunday evening.

The company has ‘significantly increased’ staff numbers on the island and was running transfer coaches to take customers to the airport from evacuation centres yesterday. It has cancelled all flights and holidays due to fly to Rhodes up to and including Sunday and has contacted customers about refund and rebooking options, claiming the company will process a refund ‘quickly’ if a customer requests one.

– Tui

A fourth repatriation flight is under way, with another scheduled for this morning, after the arrival of three flights in the UK overnight. Tui said it had cancelled all flights to Rhodes up to and including Friday as well as all flights for customers travelling to impacted hotels up to and including Sunday, with passengers receiving full refunds. Those due to travel to unaffected areas on Saturday and Sunday can change to another holiday free of charge or cancel for a full refund. The company said it is still operating empty outbound flights to bring customers on holiday elsewhere in Rhodes home ‘as planned’. The firm previously said more than 300 members of staff were on the affected part of the island, and urged customers to keep in touch.

– easyJet

easyJet announced it would operate repatriation flights to bring home British holidaymakers trapped on Rhodes. Two rescue flights, an A320 and an A321 aircraft totalling 421 additional seats, flew from Gatwick yesterday, and a third flight will operate today. Nine flights already operating between Rhodes and the UK will also continue alongside them. 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.

– Thomas Cook

Thomas Cook is contacting customers due to travel to hotels in Lardos and Kiotari – the areas most at risk – up to and including Monday, July 31 with offers of full refunds or the choice to amend their holidays. The same options will be given to customers travelling to other parts of Rhodes on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week. The company will contact all customers travelling to Rhodes in coming weeks in order of departure date. Those due to depart on Thursday will hear from Thomas Cook by no later than 6am the day before to ‘discuss your options’.

– British Airways

British Airways said it was still operating flights to Rhodes as normal. However, customers currently on the island needing to come home early can change their return flight free of charge, and anyone travelling out from the UK in the next week can postpone their flight to a later date. The firm has put a larger aircraft on the next flight from the island to accommodate customers who need to return earlier than planned.

Some 37 passengers, including a young boy, attempted to fly out of Gatwick despite terrifying fires scorching the Greek island, sparking the country’s biggest evacuation in history.

But in the final moments before take-off, the pilot issued a stark warning, telling passengers on board the 180-seat capacity aircraft that travelling to the resort island was a ‘bad idea’.

The pilot reportedly told passengers over the Tannoy before take-off: ‘Travelling to Rhodes for a holiday at the moment is a terrible idea. As far as I’m concerned, this flight is being operated on an emergency basis. Return flights are now being managed by the military. If you want to get off flight, you are welcome to do so.

‘I don’t know in what capacity you are travelling, but if you are travelling for leisure, my sincere recommendation is it’s a bad idea.’

Journalist Gwyn Loader, who was on the flight to Rhodes to report for BBC Wales’ Welsh-language news programme Newyddion, said that eight passengers chose to listen to the advice and disembark, including the young boy who was in tears.

However, Mr Gove said he plans to holiday on the Greek island of Evia, insisting the region is safe for Britons to visit.

The Housing Secretary told Times Radio: ‘I’m due to go on holiday, God willing, to Greece in just over a week’s time – not to Rhodes but to another island – and I’m looking forward to going.

‘Greece is a wonderful country, a wonderful place to holiday, and we do need to support the Greek government in dealing with the situation in Rhodes.

‘My heart goes out to those who are affected but the advice is clear – if you follow the Foreign Office advice it is safe.’

A newlywed couple spending their honeymoon on Rhodes said they were taken out of their hotel amid ‘intense’ smoke and the sound of a child screaming ‘I don’t want to die’.

Claire and Paul Jones, both 36, from Leicestershire, were moved on Saturday by coach from the Village Rhodes Beach Resort near Lardos.

Mrs Jones told the PA news agency: ‘It was really quite traumatic driving to where we went because you could see everyone fleeing their hotels, and people were walking along the beaches, walking along the roads, and they had babies and small children.’

Mark Payton, from Bristol, criticised tour operator Tui and said his family had managed to get back to the UK only after taking a ferry from Rhodes to Kos and then finding a flight to their home city.

He told PA: ‘It is just devastation over there. You plan for these holidays, and it just feels like a real rubbish long weekend away.’

Another man who landed at Bristol Airport with his young family said: ‘Miserable. Worst week ever.’

A couple from Norwich were forced to flee a wedding party on Rhodes on Saturday.

Dominic Doggett, 30, and his fiancee, Hannah Dolman, 28, arrived at Gatwick Airport on Monday having stayed on the floor of an office in a hotel after the wedding do came to an ‘abrupt end’.

A family from Dorset were forced to sleep at a primary school on the island after ash began falling on the outdoor furniture at the villa where they were staying.

Martin Bowrey, 55, Victoria Bowrey, 51, and Hayden Bowrey, 19, left the villa in Lindos after getting an alert on their phones, and slept on ‘slabs’ in the school courtyard.

Airline easyJet said it was operating its third flight today, while a spate of Jet2 flights took place yesterday evening.

Travel firms have increased numbers of staff based on the island.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said yesterday evening that he had spoken with airline companies and welcomed the additional flights.

However, people have not been discouraged from going to Rhodes, a decision Downing Street defended.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘Our advice is focused on the safety of British nationals and enabling people to make an informed decision about the situation on the ground.

Rhodes tourists Leigh and Charlotte Buckwell, with their children Izabella, four, and Henry, two

Wildfires burn in Kiotari, on the island’s south-eastern coast, devastating the area

People sit inside a car as they watch the fires near the village of Malona on Rhodes today

Martin Bowery with his wife Victoria and son Hayden, arriving at Gatwick Airport yesterday

Women embrace each other at Gatwick Airport yesterday amid the Rhodes evacuation

‘The current situation is impacting on a limited area in Rhodes and while it’s right to keep it under review and it’s possible that the advice may change, we do not want to act out of proportion to the situation on the ground.’

A Foreign Office spokesman confirmed a team has arrived on Rhodes to support travel operators in bringing Britons home.

Vassilis Kikilias, Greece’s civil protection minister, said crews had battled over 500 fires around the country for 12 straight days.

The fires are particularly devastating on very touristic islands such as Rhodes and Corfu where the season is in full swing and hotels are often full.

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