Travelers to Rhodes from Eindhoven Airport were taken off the plane at the last minute. A flight from the airport in Eindhoven to Rhodes left at half past two on Sunday afternoon, albeit with some delay, says the Transavia spokesperson. The suitcases of all passengers had already been checked in, but at the last minute tour operators decided to disembark their travelers. The suitcases were then also removed from the ship.
The Transavia spokesman cannot say how many passengers actually took off by plane. Earlier, the spokesperson said that they did not know how many people would board the plane. The plane was originally supposed to depart from Eindhoven Airport at two o’clock.
Tour operators cancel
“We fly with our own passengers, but also with travelers from TUI, Corendon and Sunweb. Those tour operators are now disembarking their customers,” the spokesman explains.
The large travel organization such as Prijsvrij and Corendon indicated on Sunday to Tuesday that they would not send travelers to Rhodes. Sunweb reports that it will do so on Sunday and Monday. “We look at the possibilities every day,” CEO Marc van Deursen of Prijsvrij previously told Omroep Brabant.
Calamity
On Sunday, the Calamity Fund designated the forest-fire-ravaged area on Rhodes as a calamity, with effect from Saturday. This means that the fund reimburses the costs of travelers staying under the guarantee scheme on the southeastern part of the Greek island.
This concerns the costs for, for example, travel adjustments, repatriation and unused vacation days. The condition is that the travel organization with which the trip is booked is affiliated with the Calamity Fund.
With regard to bringing travelers back to the Netherlands, the initiative lies with the tour operators. “The travel organization itself determines which travelers need to be repatriated. This depends on the situation. Travel organizations coordinate the repatriation flights among themselves,” said the Calamity Fund.
Prijsvrij is also trying to arrange a separate flight for Monday so that people can go to the Netherlands. Whether that will work is still unclear on Sunday afternoon
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