Rhodes wildfires: As holidaymakers are flown home, Premier Travel offers advice
Premier Travel said it has been in touch with all of its holidaymakers in Rhodes and is helping those with upcoming bookings following devastating wildfires there.
Up to 10,000 Britons are estimated to be on the Greek island and repatriation flights to rescue holidaymakers are now landing back in the UK.
People have told of being forced to sleep with hundreds of others in schools, airports and sports centres across Rhodes.
Premier Travel, the East Anglian travel company headquartered in Cambourne, said thankfully all of its holidaymakers were safe in their resorts.
Steve Cox, head of retail sales, told the Cambridge Independent: “We’ve got a dozen customers in resort at the moment. We’ve been in contact with all of them. Thankfully, they are all safe and sound. They are in areas that haven’t been affected.
“We had one couple who had to have their suitcase packed ready to go, in case of evacuation, but they didn’t need to as the wind changed direction.
“They appreciated us getting in contact and the main thing is to follow the local guidance from the tour operators in resort and the local government as well.
“We are now dealing with the fallout of flights being cancelled.
“Some of the clients we spoke to in the northern parts of Rhodes didn’t know about it. They were having a fantastic holiday and were unaffected.
“We’ve just got to wait and see what happens. Hopefully the fires will be dampened down.”
Meanwhile, wildfires also broke out in Corfu - the result of arson according to the mayor of North Corfu - and some people were evacuated.
“We’ve got some clients in Corfu and we’ve reached out to them. They sent a picture from their balcony and they could see the fires in the background, but this morning (Monday) it had dampened down, so it seems a better situation than it was in Rhodes,” said Steve.
For those with upcoming holidays, their situation depends on their tour operator.
“Jet2 Holidays have cancelled all holidays up until July 30,” noted Steve. “We’ve had people coming in and they’ve been rebooking holidays to different destinations. While we wait for the money to come back from Jet2, Premier as a company has put up the funds so the clients don’t have to pay again.
“We’ve got about 50 per cent who have rebooked so far. We’ve seen other Greek islands being booked, along with Croatia and Turkey. We had customers who were due to go yesterday and we managed to open up the branch and they are due to go to Turkey on Tuesday now.
“Another couple were due to go to hotels that had burned down so they have cancelled and not rebooked.
“We are getting calls from people with holidays in August and September, but if you were to change a holiday then, you’ll be under the tour operator’s normal terms and conditions, so you’ll be treated as a cancellation and you’d lose your money. So they need to wait and see what happens.
“The southern part of the island has been ravaged by fire, but all the other resorts are still open and want tourists.”
He advised: “It’s best to sit tight for future holidays until we know more, and contact your local travel agent if you’re due to travel imminently for the latest information.”
Steve warned that most people’s travel insurance will not cover them if they cancel now.
“If people are due to travel in August and they cancel now, their insurance probably won’t cover them as it’s a natural disaster. You would need to talk to your insurer to be sure.
“The government is not saying it’s not safe to travel to Rhodes,” he added.
Some airlines - like Ryanair - are still flying to Rhodes as the airport is operational and resorts in the north are unaffected.
“It’s busy in the airport because in the south of the island hotels have been burned or damaged, so people are having to go into stadiums and concert halls wherever they can get people. We’ve been very lucky that our clients have not been affected like that, but our hearts go out to those who have after the awful experience they’ve been through,” said Steve.
Jet2.com confirmed four repatriation flights from Rhodes to bring its customers back to the UK.
These include:
- Rhodes to Manchester, departing tonight with 220 seats
- Two Rhodes to Leeds Bradford flights, departing tonight with 189 seats
- Rhodes to Birmingham, departing tonight with 189 seats
The company said this was in addition to more than 50 scheduled flights operating between Rhodes and the UK between July 23 and 30..
In a statement, the company said: “Yesterday, we cancelled all flights and holidays due to depart to Rhodes up to and including Sunday 30th July, to give customers assurance and to avoid putting further pressure on the island’s infrastructure. We have contacted affected customers with regards to their refund and rebooking options and if they wish to receive a refund, we will process this quickly.
“We will still fly those aircraft to Rhodes, but with no customers onboard, so that we can continue to bring our customers back to the UK on their scheduled flights, as well as any additional Jet2 customers who wish to return to the UK.
“Our first repatriation landed from Rhodes into Leeds Bradford late on Sunday evening, carrying 95 Jet2.com and Jet2holidays customers back to the UK. Customers were also provided with onward ground transportation.
“We have significantly increased our presence on the island too, with experienced colleagues arriving from other destinations, as well as a dedicated senior team flying from the UK to Rhodes yesterday. These colleagues are there to look after our customers in evacuation centres, in resorts, and at Rhodes Airport. We also have staffed transfer coaches taking customers to the airport from evacuation centres today.”
And a spokesperson for Jet2.com and Jet2holidays added: “We understand how difficult this experience has been for many, and our entire focus is on looking after our customers. We have a significantly expanded presence in Rhodes, with a huge team of experienced colleagues providing all the support we can for our customers, whether that is in affected areas or at Rhodes Airport.
“We have also put on four repatriation flights to bring our customers home, which is on top of our scheduled programme of flights that will continue to operate from Rhodes to the UK this week. We are continuing to make decisions in the best interests of our customers, and we are keeping everything under constant review.”
A Foreign Office spokesman confirmed a Rapid Deployment Team has arrived on Rhodes to support travel operators in bringing Britons home.
Laura and Marc Hall, who booked with Tui, are celebrating their wedding anniversary while on holiday on the island and are due to fly back to the UK on Friday.
Mrs Hall told BBC Breakfast: “It’s been a nightmare. On Saturday night we were just having a drink and we knew that other places had been evacuated but we were just told to stand by.
“There was ash falling in our drinks and we could just see a blaze in the distance and a load of smoke. We were told not to do anything and then all of a sudden we had alarms going off on our phone and the waiter was saying ‘Stand by’, shouting ‘Mayday, mayday’.
“So it was just a mad panic. We all started packing. We were just told to wait and we might have to evacuate, so we just stayed in our rooms and at 3am we get a call, we’ve got to go.”
They were taken to a basketball stadium and spent the night sleeping on the floor.
Mr Hall said: “The only information we’ve had from Tui is an email yesterday to say ‘Hope you’re enjoying your holiday’. We just want them to be upfront about it.”
The wildfire had been confined to the island’s mountainous centre but, aided by winds, very high temperatures and dry conditions, it spread towards the coast on the island’s central-eastern side.
A Tui spokeswoman said the firm’s “main priority” is customers’ safety and its staff are doing “all they can” to help those affected by the fires.
The firm later said: “We appreciate how distressing and difficult it’s been for those who have been evacuated and ask that they continue to follow the advice of the local authorities and keep in touch with the Tui reps who are present in all evacuation centres. Our teams will be contacting customers with any updates as soon as they can.
“We have cancelled all outbound flights to Rhodes up to and including Tuesday, and passengers due to travel on these flights will receive full refunds.
“Passengers due to travel on Wednesday will be offered a fee-free amend to another holiday or the option to cancel for a full refund. We are still operating flights to bring those customers currently on holiday elsewhere in Rhodes home as planned.”
An easyJet spokeswoman said the company is doing “all it can” to help customers in Rhodes and invited those due to travel to or from the island until Saturday to change the date for free.
Britons have not been discouraged from going to Rhodes - a decision Downing Street has 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.
“The current situation is impacting on a limited area in Rhodes and whilst 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.”
Meanwhile, the heatwave that has left parts of southern Europe stifling has not been putting off holidaymakers from travelling.
At Premier Travel, bookings have been very strong.
“We’ve seen a spike in bookings from people wanting to get away because the weather is so bad here. People are desperate to get away,” said Steve.
“Corfu is 38C, which is a normal sort of temperature for this type of year. And these countries are able to cope with that. And most tourists are in coastal resorts.”
But he acknowledged: “There are some extremes - it could go up to as much as 48C in Sicily.”
Offering advice to those facing heatwave conditions this summer, he said: “To stay safe, what we advise is don’t be out in the midday sun - go out earlier or later in the early evening and the weather will still be warm. The biggest thing is dehydration and if you’re drinking an excess amount of alcohol, that will naturally dehydrate you.”
For some worried about the impact of climate change on summer temperatures in southern Europe, cooler northern climes are becoming popular.
“It’s so personal. Some people are sunseekers. Others don’t want the heat. Lakes and mountain holidays in Austria are quite popular, as are areas like Lake Garda
“Going up towards northern capitals and Iceland are also popular. It’s so varied,” said Steve.
But the trend, post-Covid, is clear.
“We are seeing unrelenting bookings - even for 2024 and 2025,” Steve added. “2024 is surpassing 2023 for us. People are booking further ahead and paying a deposit and paying monthly.
“I think people have been so cooped up for the last few years with Covid. They’ve got their confidence now and want to go and see the world now.
“There’s a long way to recover after a few years of non-travel, but for us it’s certainly going to be one of our best years ever, which for a local company is really good.”
