Forest fires are raging on the Greek island of Rhodes, where thousands of Swedes are on vacation. Tour operators Apollo and Ving are now canceling trips to the affected areas on Sunday.
Forest fires have been raging since Tuesday, a few kilometers inland from the popular holiday resort of Lardos on the south coast of Rhodes.
Apollo has now decided not to send any more travelers to the affected areas on Sunday.
”"Travelers received information yesterday, quite late unfortunately, that their trips are canceled," says Martina Krantz, press officer at Apollo, to TT.
”"The airlines will continue to fly, but we cannot offer our customers accommodation in these areas and then we have been forced to cancel the trips," she continues.
Approximately 80 travelers are affected by the announcement, according to Martina Krantz.
The announcement currently only applies to trips that were booked on Sunday.
”Then we will evaluate and see how the situation develops,” says Martina Krantz.
Ving has also decided to cancel trips to the affected areas, Kiotari, Lardos and Lindos.
Approximately 40 Ving travelers are affected.
”"It's not fun to have to give news the day before you're going on a long-awaited vacation," says Anna Hagberg, press officer at Ving, to TT.
”"At the same time, the only thing we can do is because right now it is not even possible to enter these areas. And safety always comes first for us," she continues.
Like Apollo's, Ving's decision currently only applies to Sunday, but Anna Hagberg does not rule out that more trips will be canceled in the future.
”"We are in contact with local authorities and will hopefully get an idea of the extent of the fire this morning. We are following their directives, but I have difficulty seeing that we can send travelers to the affected areas in the coming days," she says.
Both Apollo and Ving state that travelers whose trips are canceled will receive their money back.
Tui is going even further and canceling all trips from Europe to the entire island for two days, the organizer tells TT.
A total of 30,000 people are reported to have been evacuated from areas near the fires, of which just under 300 are Swedes.
Source: TT-DI.SE
