All flights to Greece until July 15 are canceled, SAS announces. Tui's second charter flight that was due to take off on Thursday is also canceled after Greek authorities revoked the permit.
"We received notification this afternoon that the Greek restrictions will apply until July 15, so all our flights until then are canceled," says Karin Nyman, Director of Communications at SAS.
Greece has announced for several days that direct flights from Sweden would not be allowed until after July 15, but according to Karin Nyman, until today there was hope that the restrictions would be released after discussions between Swedish and Greek authorities.
Sweden's ambassador to Greece, Charlotte Sammelin, tells TT that it is still possible for Swedes to get to Greece in other ways.
”"The whole thing is that right now Greek experts, their infection control team, are evaluating the situation in Sweden during the two weeks until July 15. Until they have a clearer picture, they want to reduce the number of arrivals from Sweden and it's not about Swedes not being allowed to enter, it's about reducing the number of arrivals from Sweden. So you can get in other ways, if you want, and it's going well," says Charlotte Sammelin.
Tui has also been forced to cancel the flight that was scheduled to take off on Thursday, after the company was caught in windy weather at the end of last week. Then, a first charter plane was sent down with journalists and Tui employees as well as Swedish tourists, after they managed to negotiate an exception to the rules with the Greek government.
”"But once the flight landed, it turned out that the exception was not fully established in Rhodes, where many were surprised that Swedish tourists had come down. Now the Greek government has withdrawn the permit for the second plane," says Adam Györki, press manager at Tui Sweden, who went down to Rhodes with the first plane.
”"We had permission to fly two flights. The flight that will pick us up on Thursday was supposed to bring additional guests. The permission we had been given has now been withdrawn. The main reason is that there has been such a big media storm surrounding these flights. The government doesn't think it's worth it," says Adam Györki.
The travel company will fly an empty plane to bring back the Swedish tourists who are currently on Rhodes. Anyone who bought a ticket for the departure on Thursday will have the choice between getting a refund or traveling at a later date.
Adam Györki does not believe that the controversy over the two Tui flights will affect the relationship between tour operators and Greece, and believes that most Greeks welcome Swedish tourists. He is supported by Didrik von Seth, secretary general of the Swedish Tour Operators Association, SRF.
”"Hundreds of thousands of Swedes travel to Greece every year. It is important for the economy and everyone who works with tourism in Greece understands that. It will not cause any problems in the long term. Swedes are welcome, we contribute a lot to the Greek economy," says Didrik von Seth.
Source;TT
