Tui UK & Ireland has confirmed holidays to the north of Rhodes unaffected by wildfires will resume this weekend.
Flights to the island have been suspended until Friday, with its programme to the fire-hit south the island available but with the option for holidaymakers to rebook or amend their holiday, or cancel with a full refund.
Meanwhile, the operator issued a notice to reassure customers due to travel to Corfu that its hotels and resorts are currently operating normally following the containment of a wildfire in a small area in the northeast.
Tui is continuing to run repatriation flights from Rhodes back to the UK to bring evacuating holidaymakers home.
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The last update followed Jet2 and Jet2holidays announcing the resumption of holidays to more than a dozen resorts in Rhodes from Monday (July 31) after the cancellation of flights and holidays until Sunday.
Tui’s return came amid reports that some hotels on the island have slashed peak summer prices by a third or more following cancellations and no-shows in a bid to rescue tourism devastated by wildfires which have affected nine countries.
A Tui UK & Ireland spokesperson said last night: “Our teams in Rhodes have been working tirelessly to support customers impacted by the wildfires in south-eastern parts of the island.
“We’ve brought hundreds of people home and hundreds more will be travelling back to the UK on flights today.
“We appreciate how distressing and difficult it’s been for those who had to evacuate their hotels and curtail their holidays. And we also understand those due to travel to Rhodes may be concerned about how their holidays could be affected.
“We’re continuing to monitor the situation and have made some changes to our holiday programme in the coming days.
“We’d like to reassure customers their health and safety is our top priority and re-iterate that we are constantly reviewing the situation and will provide any new updates as soon as we are able.”
Tui confirmed that its programme to the north of Rhodes, where hotels and resorts are fully operational, will resume on Saturday and Sunday.
However, “any customers who would prefer to amend to another available holiday can do so or they can cancel with a full refund”.
Up until August 11, the company added: “Whilst a number of hotels in the south of the island are open, Tui is offering customers travelling on a package holiday to a hotel in the south of the island the option to rebook or amend their holiday, or cancel with a full refund.
“Our teams will be contacting these customers to discuss their preferred options, including anyone who’s booked on a non-Tui flight.”
Abta said it has sought to provide clarification on the wildfires crisis through multiple media briefings since July 22 on what is happening and what it means for customers, explaining their rights and how package holidays customers have greater protection in such circumstances.
An association spokesperson said: “We’ve stressed to the media that Abta members are working hard to support their customers affected by the wildfires, and that the health and safety of customers is the number one priority.
“We have provided clarity on the geographical areas affected by the fires, making it clear that not all resorts on the island are affected.
“We’ve also clarified that the situations in Corfu and Rhodes are very different, stressing that in both cases people can still holiday on the islands.”
More: Tui extends suspension of holidays to fire hit south of Rhodes
Rhodes repatriation flights organised after wildfires force hotel evacuations