LAST UPDATE | 24 Jul 2023
A WEEK-LONG WILDFIRE on the Greek resort island of Rhodes has torn past defences, forcing more evacuations, as three major fires raged elsewhere in the country fuelled by strong winds and successive heatwaves that left scrubland and forests tinder-dry.
The latest evacuations were ordered in south Rhodes after 19,000 people, mostly tourists, were moved in buses and boats over the weekend out of the path of the fire that reached several coastal areas from nearby mountains.
Other Greek islands are now reporting similar problems, including Evia and Corfu.
“We are at war and are exclusively geared towards the fire front,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told parliament in Athens, warning that the nation faced “another three difficult days ahead” before high temperatures are forecast to ease.
Over 2,000 people have been evacuated from Corfu, while tens of thousands of people fled wildfires on the island of Rhodes yesterday as terrified holiday makers scrambled to get home.
Help continued to arrive from the European Union and elsewhere, with firefighting planes from neighbouring Turkey joining the effort in Rhodes, where 10 water-dropping planes and 10 helicopters buzzed over flames up to five metres tall despite low visibility.
The fires have created the country’s largest-ever wildfire evacuation.
“The risk of fire will be extreme in several areas of Greece today,” fire service spokesperson Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said a day after temperatures on the southern Greek mainland soared as high as 45C.
TUI has cancelled all outbound flights to Rhodes from the UK and Ireland until Saturday and will refund all affected passengers.
The airline has also cancelled flights for passengers travelling to hotels that have been affected by the wildfires up to and including Sunday.
A TUI spokesperson said:
“Four repatriation flights have now started to bring customers home. A fifth flight is planned for tomorrow morning and all available flights on scheduled returns will be utilised.”
“Passengers due to travel to areas not affected by fires on Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th July will be offered a free amendment to another holiday or the option to cancel for a full refund.”
“We are still operating empty outbound flights to bring those customers currently on holiday elsewhere in Rhodes home as planned.”
Paul Hackett is the president of the Irish Travel Agents Association and he said around 2,000 Irish holiday makers could be in the Greek islands of Corfu and Rhodes.
“Rhodes has approximately four flights per week from Ireland, so in the order of 700 to 800 passengers per week,” Hackett told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.
“Corfu has six flights per week, so in the order of 1,000 to 1,200.
“In total between the two islands, the maximum would be about 2,000 passengers over 10 flights per week.”
Ryanair and Aer Lingus are continuing to operate flights to the Greek islands and Hackett said it is important that airlines operate flights, especially outbound ones.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin has urged holidaymakers to be careful. “Contact your tour operator. Take all advice from the authorities. Evacuate when you’re asked to evacuate and don’t hesitate,” he said, speaking to reporters at The Curragh today.
Asked whether people should be compensated for choosing not to travel to regions due to wildfires, Martin said a “refund would be the proper approach there”.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has advised Irish citizens in Rhodes to “stay away” from areas affected by wildfires burning out of control on the island, which have sparked the biggest ever fire evacuation in Greece.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the DFA said it has been contacted by “a number of Irish citizens impacted by the current fires in Rhodes”.
“Irish citizens are being advised to be alert and stay away from the affected areas, and to move rapidly out of any areas affected,” the spokesperson said.
“This is an evolving situation, and citizens should comply with evacuation orders and follow the instructions from the emergency services and local authorities.”
Irish citizens are also advised to call the Greek Emergency Services on 112 if they are in immediate danger and to turn mobile phones on to roaming to receive any alerts from local authorities.
Temporary shelters have been established by the authorities in Greece for tourists who have had to evacuate their hotels.
The DFA said anyone planning to travel to Greece should check with their travel operator or hotel to see if the area they plan to visit is impacted by the current wildfires and evacuations, as there is “likely to be travel disruption”.
“The Department is advising against travel to the affected areas,” they added.
Flights to Greece are continuing and Paul Hackett, president of the Irish Travel Agents Association, said it is “really important that the airlines continue to fly”.
“How else are the people who are in the destination going to get home, so the flights need to operate both ways,” Hackett told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.
Ryanair and Aer Lingus are continuing to operate flights.
“In both Rhodes and Corfu, the airports are operating. In Rhodes, the fires are very much to the south of the island,” said Hackett.
“It’s quite a large island, around 80 kilometres from north to south and the fires are in the south while the main airport is in the north, so (the airport) is 60 kilometres away (from the fires).
“In Corfu, we have had one beach evacuation, we haven’t had word yet of any hotel evacuations out of Corfu.
“The airport is central near Corfu town, so once again, getting in and out with the island is safe and the airlines should continue to fly because then passengers who wish to come home can return home.”
While Hackett has been in touch with passengers in Rhodes, he said passengers in Corfu began to be contacted this morning “because it only came to light late last night”.
He said the passengers he has spoken to are “aware of the situation, aware of the precautions and aware of the guidance”.
Hackett noted that guidance includes keeping phones charged, as well as “keeping phones on roaming, so that the local authorities can get messages to tourists when they’re in the destination”.
Meanwhile, Ryanair said passengers currently in Rhodes will be given “a free of charge option for people who want to transfer onto an earlier flight home”.
Aer Lingus is also offering customers travelling to and from Corfu this week the option to change their flight for free.
However, also speaking on Morning Ireland, Ryanair’s chief financial officer Neil Sorahan said there hasn’t been a “noticeable impact” on cancellations and that as things stand, the schedule is “operating”.
Sorohan added that it is “hard to know”‘ if the extreme heatwaves will impact passenger numbers next summer but said countries like Italy, Greece and Spain will “continue to be popular destinations”.
Hackett told Morning Ireland that you “have a lot of protection as a consumer when you’re booked with a travel agent or tour operator”.
But he warned “that same protection does not apply to consumers who DIY and do it themselves”.
He advised anyone who is “due to travel in the next week to 10 days to speak to their travel agent”.
“No travel agent will put any consumer at risk in a safety situation and we will always listen to the consumer.
“We have to follow what the local guidelines are, it’s clear that the Department of Foreign Affairs has normal precautions applying to all Greek destinations.
“So travel is allowed, flights are operating, airports are operating, so everybody will be looking at this on a case-by-case basis but with the safety of the consumer being paramount.”
Hackett also commended the Greek response to the wildfire.
“They have evacuated 19,000 people safely from hotels, albeit into gymnasiums and into school halls where they don’t want to be spending their holidays,” said Hackett.
“But we have had no reports of any casualties or any deaths at this stage. So in fairness to the Greek authorities, with assistance from some of the neighbouring countries, they have done a remarkably good job.”
Additional reporting by Press Association and Lauren Boland
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