Tui UK & Ireland last night suspended holidays to fire-hit parts of Rhodes until next month as other operators continued to weigh up their options.
The company had already stopped operating flights until Friday and will now not serve affected hotels in the southern part of the island until August 11.
The decision came after Jet2 said it was “continually reviewing the situation” for holidaymakers due to travel to Rhodes beyond cancellations in place up to July 30.
The change by Tui came as Crete was put on high alert for wildfires following outbreaks on Corfu and Evia as well as Rhodes.
The Foreign Office also updated its travel advice for Greece to say: “Extreme temperatures are affecting many areas of Greece. There are active wildfires across Greece, including in populated areas on the mainland and a number of islands.
“Wildfires are highly dangerous and unpredictable. The situation can change quickly
“If you are due to travel to an area that might be affected by wildfires, contact your travel operator or accommodation provider before you travel to check that it is not currently impacted. Make sure you have appropriate insurance.”
A Tui UK & Ireland spokesperson said: “Our teams in Rhodes have been working tirelessly to support customers impacted by the wildfires in south-eastern parts of the island.
“Five repatriation flights have brought hundreds of customers home and we’re working hard to get everyone back as soon as we can.
“We appreciate how distressing and difficult it’s been for those who have been evacuated. We ask that they continue to follow the advice of the local authorities and keep in touch with our reps.
“We are not operating any outbound flights to Rhodes up to and including Friday 28th July.
“We are also not operating holidays for customers travelling to impacted hotels in the southup to and including Friday 11th August.
“We’ll be in touch with customers directly if their hotels have been impacted or customers can contact us via our call centre or go to one of our Tui retail stores.
“All flight-only customers due to travel on these flights will receive full refunds. Package holiday customers will have the option to amend their booking or cancel with a full refund.
“Passengers due to travel up to and including 30th July for all areas of Rhodes will be offered a fee free amend to another holiday or the option to cancel for a full refund.
“We are still operating flights from Rhodes back to the UK & Ireland as scheduled. The safety and well-being of our customers and teams remains our top priority.”
“For those travelling to the north of Rhodes from Saturday 29 July, we want to reassure that hotels and resorts are fully operational and our team of Tui reps are offering their usual service. There will also be an excursion programme on offer for our customers who would like to explore.”
Tui Group chief Sebastian Ebel visited Rhodes on Tuesday to get a clear picture of the situation on the ground during 10-hour tour.
He said: “Rhodes is a big island and the differences between the north and the wildfire-affected south are striking – the distance from the north to the south is around 80kms.
“We want to underline the long-term support of the island in co-operation with the local authorities on Rhodes and the South Aegean region. Especially in this terrible situation, we stand by our teams, partners and friends.“
More than 300 staff continue to take care of the safety of Tui holidaymakers, providing them with replacement accommodation, food and drinks.
The situation on the ground is still evolving and changing and is being regularly reassessed, Tui added.
Jet2 operated nine scheduled flights from Rhodes on Tuesday carrying a mix of people already booked to return from holiday the flights, plus customers being repatriated.
A spokesperson said: “This programme of scheduled services met the demand we had in the airport. Thanks to our expanded presence at the airport, things have been going extremely well.
“A lot of hard work by our significantly expanded team means that affected customers are being looked after, accommodated, or flown home.”
They added: “There is, of course, a significant amount of customers continuing to enjoy their holidays in unaffected areas too.
“Of those customers that had flights and holidays cancelled as a result of a suspending Rhodes flights and holidays between Sunday 23rd and Sunday 30th July, it’s very encouraging to see how many people have rebooked holidays for this summer.”
Tui hotels not operating up to and including August 11:
- Absolutel Kiotari
- Amaryllis Hotel Lardos
- Ambelia Hotel (ex Zenith Seaside Hotel)
- Amfitriti Hotel and Studios
- Aqua Grand of Lindos Exclusive Deluxe Resort
- Atrium Prestige
- Boutique 5 Hotel and Spa
- Cosmos Maris
- Eleni Studios
- Evi Studios
- Finas Hotel and Apartments
- Gennadi Grand
- Gonos Villa
- Hotel Ziakis
- Island Blue Hotel
- Labranda Kiotari Miraluna
- Lindia Thalassa Resort
- Lindian Village
- Lindos Blue
- Lindos Grand Resort and Spa
- Lindos Imperial Resort and Spa
- Lindos Mare
- Lindos Princess
- Lindos Royal
- Lindos View
- Lindos Village Resort and Spa
- Lindos White Hotel and Suites
- Mayia Exclusive Resort and Spa
- Mitsis Hotel Rodos Village
- Mitsis Lindos Memories Hotel
- Mitsis Rodos Maris Resort and Spa
- Pefki Islands
- Pefkos Village Resort
- Plimiri
- Princess Andriana Resort and Spa
- Princess Sun Hotel
- Rafael Studios
- Rodos Princess Beach Hotel
- Stella
- TUI Blue Sensatori Atlantica Dreams Resort
- White Olive Premium Lindos