Rhodes wildfires: Your travel rights if you have a flight booked to Greece amid cancellations

Popular Greek islands have been ravaged by wildfires over the last week as thousands of people are being evacuated - here's all you need to know if you have a flight booked

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Erica Carter

11:29, 24 JUL 2023

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Wildfires are continuing to rage across Corfu and Rhodes as flights to the islands have been cancelled.

The Greek government said it had evacuated 19,000 people from Rhodes in the "largest ever" wildfire evacuation in the country's history.

The fires on the popular island have entered their seventh day.

Ireland has updated their travel advice for those travelling to Greece, writing: "Irish citizens should stay away from the affected areas and move rapidly out of any areas affected.

"This is an evolving situation; comply with evacuation orders and follow instructions from the emergency service, police and local authorities.

"If you are planning to travel to Rhodes, you should check with your travel operator or agency, or your hotel, prior to travel to see if the area you plan to visit is impacted by the current wildfires and evacuations. We advise against travel to affected areas."

But what if you have a holiday booked to any of the affected areas? Here's everything you need to know about what's going on and your travel rights.

Are all flights cancelled?

Holiday firms Jet2 and TUI both announced on Sunday they would be cancelling all imminent flights and holidays to Rhodes and offering refunds because of the fires.

Jet2 said in a statement posted on Twitter: "We have cancelled all flights and holidays that are due to depart to Rhodes today (five flights in total) ... 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 flights."

TUI has cancelled all flights to the island until Tuesday, with customers looking to fly out on Wednesday given the opportunity to rebook or cancel free of charge.

They advised that individuals set to stay at the TUI Blue Atlantica Nissaki Beach, Pantokrator, Golden Mare, La Riviera or Nautilusue hotels do not travel to the airport on 24th or 25th July.

EasyJet cancelled package holidays until Tuesday, and though it said it is currently "operating flights as normal" it was offering those who had booked to travel to or from Rhodes the chance to transfer to another date or request a flight voucher up to next Saturday.

But Ryanair says its operations to and from Rhodes are normal and that usual conditions apply.

Aer Lingus said it does not operate flights to Rhodes and added: "In terms of our Greek destinations as per our schedule our next flights will be Tuesday so we'll monitor and advise customers accordingly."

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