Both Tui and Jet2 are cancelling flights to the Greek island of Rhodes in response to raging fires that have led to thousands of people being evacuated.
Tui has confirmed that the cancellations will cover the next few days until the situation in Rhodes stabilizes, while Jet2 has only released plans for Sunday, July 24, 2023.
In a statement from Jet2 the airline said that empty planes would continue to fly to Rhodes to bring back stranded passengers.
“We have cancelled all flights and holidays that are due to depart for Rhodes today (five flights in total). 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,” Jet2 said in a statement.
Wildfires have been burning on the island for the past six days and around 19,000 people have been evacuated.
“The situation in the Southern part of Rhodes remains volatile and challenging. Due to this and considering the impact on local communities being affected, TUI has decided to cancel all flights and booked holidays to Rhodes for departures up to and incl. Tue, 25 July,” Tui said in a statement.
EasyJet are currently contacting customers who are travelling to Rhodes in the next six days to discuss their options, however there is some speculation that the airline will follow Jet2 and Tui.