Travel organization TUI will not bring any new travelers to the Greek island of Rhodes until Tuesday. A spokeswoman said. Earlier, CEO Steven van der Heijden of Corendon reported that he was already busy organizing an airlift for duped Rhodes visitors.
The Greek island is hit by forest fires that also affect Dutch holidaymakers. According to a government official, approximately 30,000 tourists and residents, including Dutch citizens, have been taken to a safe place. On Saturday evening, according to Dutch travel organizations, many dozens of Dutch tourists were evacuated. They are housed in sports halls, for example.
TUI says in response to the forest fires that it has decided “not to bring travelers to Rhodes from today until at least Tuesday 25 July. The situation on the island does not allow bringing new travelers to the island. This applies to all TUI Group countries.”
Travelers who would leave for Rhodes these days have been informed by TUI that their trip will be cancelled. “We are doing our utmost to find an alternative for them,” says TUI. “We will contact them about this in the coming days.”
According to TUI, there are currently about fifty Dutch travelers who have been evacuated. “We are in contact with them to map out their situation. We are assessing the possibilities of bringing them to the Netherlands.”
Corendon
Top man Steven van der Heijden of Corendon also says that he will not bring any new travelers to Rhodes, “so that these beds are available for the evacuees on the island. We are used to responding to unexpected situations, but this is not easy in the busiest week of the year,” says Van der Heijden.
Peak season
Due to the high season, there are hardly any extra aircraft available, which means that repatriation cannot proceed quickly. Van der Heijden is trying to get a number of victims on flights from Antalya, which could fly via Rhodes. But at the moment there are hardly any extra so-called slots, take-off and landing times at the airport of the Greek island, which means that Corendon cannot go to the island with extra flights.
“We hope that the Calamity Fund will help. Then we as travel organizations can jointly enter the market to rent a few large aircraft, so that we can make an airlift to the Netherlands. Then things can go fast with the repatriation, “says Van der Heijden, who says that the situation changes ‘from minute to minute’. According to the ANVR, the so-called Calamity Fund is working to see whether the situation in Rhodes can be labeled as an official calamity. That depends on how many victims there are and what the situation is. “If you have booked a trip, we recommend that you contact the tour operator. They have the best view of the situation,” says an ANVR spokesperson. If the trip goes to the part of Rhodes where there are no forest fires, then the cancellation is in principle at your own expense, according to the ANVR. The Calamity Fund could not be reached for comment on Sunday morning.
Transavia
Airline Transavia says in a response that the scheduled flights for Sunday and Monday will be carried out as usual. “There are also passengers who want to go back. The holidays in the north can continue for the time being,” says a spokesman for Transavia, which remains in contact with the authorities about flight safety. This is not at stake on Sunday, said the spokesman. The holiday flyer says it may still have capacity to bring back affected travelers.