Greek wildfires: Everything holidaymakers need to know from flights to rights as thousands flee hotels
Raging wildfires on the Greek island of Rhodes have sparked the evacuation of around 2,000 tourists from its resorts.
The Greek government said it had evacuated 19,000 people in the “largest ever” wildfire evacuation in the country’s history.
Local media said the fires had reached three hotels, which had already been evacuated, with three coastguard vessels plus one from the army evacuating people from two beaches.
But what should holidaymakers do if they have booked to travel to the island?
Largest ever evacuation from Greece – latest on Rhodes wildfires
Are airlines still flying to Rhodes?
Jet2 cancelled all flights and holidays to Rhodes until next Monday (31 July), saying “we will be contacting affected customers with regards to their refund and rebooking options”.
Evacuees inside a stadium following evacuation in Rhodes. Pic: AP
TUI also 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.
Two rescue flights – totalling 421 additional seats – will fly from Gatwick on Monday, and a third will operate on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, British Airways said it is offering customers on the island who need to return home early the opportunity to change flights free of charge and Ryanair said flights were “currently operating as normal and unaffected by the forest fires”.
Thomas Cook has cancelled all holidays to areas of Rhodes most affected by the wildfire – such as Kiotari and Lardos – until July 31. The travel agency announced it had been in touch will all customers due to travel today (23 July) or tomorrow (24 July) to those areas to arrange “swift refunds”. It has also offered full refunds to customers due to depart for other parts of the island on Sunday and Monday who wish to cancel.
Thomas Cook will be in touch with people booked to travel on Tuesday to discuss their options, the firm added.
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Tourists flee hotels as Greek wildfires rage
If I’m with another operator, can I get a refund or a cancellation?
If it’s a package, the Package Travel Regulations say holidaymakers can cancel and receive a full refund “if unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances occur at the place of destination or its immediate vicinity which significantly affect the performance of the package or the carriage of passengers to the destination”.
“If you have been notified that your holiday which is due to depart in the next few days has been cancelled, then your travel company will be able to discuss your options with you – that could be offering a full refund or they might be able to discuss an alternative holiday,” said Emma Brennan, a spokesperson for the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA).
Pic: AP
Those seeking refunds for independent travel could have less luck.
“If you booked everything independently, if you booked a flight and that flight has now been cancelled, then they will need to provide a refund for that, then you would need to go through and speak to every element of your travel provider to understand what the terms and conditions are – what’s the arrangement with the hotel or accommodation that you have booked, what’s the refund policy, the same for any transfer or car hire,” she said.
The fine print of holiday conditions will differ with each operator.
What is the foreign office saying?
The UK’s foreign office has urged British travellers affected by the wildfires to follow guidance from Greek emergency services.
“If you are planning to travel to Rhodes, please check with your travel operator or hotel prior to travel that the area you plan to visit is not impacted by the current wildfires,” it said.
However, it has stopped short of advising against travelling to Rhodes – a move that would significantly help anyone seeking compensation.
A burnt hotel during a wildfire on Rhodes
Am I covered by my travel insurance?
Whether holidaymakers are guaranteed compensation under their travel insurance policies hinges on if the UK government advises against travel to the area.
“The primary purpose of travel insurance is to cover the costs of emergency medical treatments or repatriation should the worst happen, which can run into the tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds,” a spokesperson for the Association of British Insurers (ABI) said.
“It can cover you if you need to cancel or cut short your holiday, but it’s likely this will only be under limited circumstances, for example if you or a close family member fall ill, not because of a disinclination to travel.
“Insurance can cover you if advice from the government changes since you’ve booked your trip, and it’s no longer considered safe to travel to the destination.”
A beach covered in smoke during the wildfires
Instead, anyone concerned about travelling to the area should check with their travel provider and air carrier, the spokesperson added.
Some travel insurance policies may cover affected holidays under certain circumstances, so people are advised to check the scope of cover provided by their travel insurance.
Waspi campaigners have threatened legal action against the government unless it reconsiders its decision to reject compensation.
In December, the government said it would not be compensating millions of women born in the 1950s – known as Waspi women – who say they were not given sufficient warning of the state pension age for women being lifted from 60 to 65.
It was due to be phased in over 10 years from 2010, but in 2011 was sped up to be reached by 2018, then rose to the age of 66 in 2020.
A watchdog had recommended that compensation be paid to those affected, but Sir Keir Starmer said at the time that taxpayers could not afford what could have been a £10.5bn package.
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From December: No pay out for ‘waspi’ pension women
On Monday, the Waspi campaign said it had sent a “letter before action” to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) warning the government of High Court proceedings if no action is taken.
Angela Madden, chair of Waspi (Women Against State Pension Inequality) campaign group, said members will not allow the DWP’s “gaslighting” of victims to go “unchallenged”.
She said: “The government has accepted that 1950s-born women are victims of maladministration, but it now says none of us suffered any injustice. We believe this is not only an outrage but legally wrong.
“We have been successful before and we are confident we will be again. But what would be better for everyone is if the Secretary of State (Liz Kendall) now saw sense and came to the table to sort out a compensation package.
“The alternative is continued defence of the indefensible but this time in front of a judge.”
The group has launched a £75,000 CrowdJustice campaign to fund legal action, and said the government has 14 days to respond before the case is filed.
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What is a Waspi woman and what happened to them?
About 3.6 million women were affected by their state pension age being lifted from 60 to 65. File pic: PA
In the mid-1990s, the government passed a law to raise the retirement age for women over a 10-year period to make it equal to men.
The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government in the early 2010s under David Cameron and Nick Clegg then sped up the timetable as part of its cost-cutting measures.
In 2011, a new Pensions Act was introduced that not only shortened the timetable to increase the women’s pension age to 65 by two years but also raised the overall pension age to 66 by October 2020 – saving the government around £30bn.
About 3.6 million women in the UK were affected – as many complained they weren’t appropriately notified of the changes and some only received letters about it 14 years after the legislation passed.
While in opposition, Rachel Reeves, now the chancellor, and Liz Kendall, now pensions secretary, were among several Labour MPs who supported the Waspi women’s campaign.
The now-Chancellor said in a 2016 debate that women affected by the increase in state pension age had been “done and injustice” and urged the government to “think again”.
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A government spokesperson said: “We accept the Ombudsman’s finding of maladministration and have apologised for there being a 28-month delay in writing to 1950s-born women.
“However, evidence showed only one in four people remember reading and receiving letters that they weren’t expecting and that by 2006, 90% of 1950s-born women knew that the state pension age was changing.
“Earlier letters wouldn’t have affected this. For these and other reasons, the government cannot justify paying for a £10.5 billion compensation scheme at the expense of the taxpayer.”
Russian oligarchs with links to the Kremlin can now be banned from the UK, the government has announced as part of a fresh sanctions package on the third anniversary of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Home Office said “elites” linked to the Russian state can now be prevented from entering the UK under the new sanctions.
Those who could be banned include anyone who provides “significant support” to the Kremlin, those who owe their “significant status or wealth” to the Russian state, and those “who enjoy access to the highest levels” of the regime.
The announcement has been timed to coincide with the three-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Another set of sanctions is expected from the Foreign Office on Monday.
Security minister Dan Jarvis said: “Border security is national security, and we will use all the tools at our disposal to protect our country against the threat from Russia.
“The measures announced today slam the door shut to the oligarchs who have enriched themselves at the expense of the Russian people whilst bankrolling this illegal and unjustifiable war.
“My message to Putin’s friends in Moscow is simple: you are not welcome in the UK.”
The UK government said Kremlin-linked elites can pose a “real and present danger to our way of life” as they denounce British values in public “while enjoying the benefits of the UK in private”.
It said they can act as “tools” for the Russian state to enable President Putin’s aggression in Ukraine and beyond.
Shortly after the war in Ukraine started on 24 February 2022, the UK imposed financial sanctions on oligarchs, including closing legal loopholes used to launder money.
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In November last year, Operation Destabilise, run by the National Crime Agency (NCA), successfully disrupted two billion-dollar Russian money laundering networks operating around the world, including in the UK which was a key hub.
They provided services to Russian oligarchs and were helping fund Kremlin espionage operations.
Ekatarina Zhdanova is said to have run a money laundering network called Smart that has been shut down. Pic: NCA
One of the key players was identified as Ekaterina Zhdanova who is alleged to have run a money laundering network called Smart. She was sanctioned by the US in November last year and is currently in French custody awaiting a trial.
A total of 84 arrests were made under Operation Destabilise in November and more than £20m in illicit funds seized.
The NCA has made a further six arrests since then and seized £1m more in case.
The networks also helped Russian clients to illegally bypass financial restrictions to invest money in the UK.
US officials have been in talks with their Russian counterparts in Saudi Arabia over the future of Ukraine for the past week.
However, neither Ukraine nor any European country was at the table, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying he will not accept any peace deal Kyiv is not involved in.
Sir Keir Starmer has backed Mr Zelenskyy on that so all eyes will be on the prime minister when he visits Mr Trump in Washington DC this week.
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