Rhodes tomorrow morning

[Dogmatix34]

We are due to fly to Rhodes tomorrow morning- going to Ixia at the top of the island. We are staying 3 nights until moving on to another island. Would you go? The resort is quite far away from the fires but I’m still very worried.

We have a holiday for Rhodes booked through on the beach. They have a message on the website that states they are contacting anyone going to Rhodes today to cancel their holiday. I would firstly go through your booking agent. Our flights are with Easy jet and they do not give refunds. We are seriously considering cancelling even though we are not travelling for a few weeks.

Jeez what an unbelievable comment. It's hardly the Congo is it?!

From Google (other sources available):

"The island of Rhodes is shaped like a spearhead, 79.7 km (49.5 mi) long and 38 km (24 mi) wide, with a total area of approximately 1,400 square kilometres (541 sq mi) and a coastline of approximately 220 km (137 mi)."

45% of that is on fire?

We are due to fly to Ixea on Friday and are keeping a close eye on the situation. The hotel says that they are unaffected but things could change quickly.

I hate all the coverage that is focused on tourists stranded for a few days with little mention of how residents will have had homes and businesses destroyed and whole lives turned upside down.

Lots of advice on here is don't go. The island relies on the tourist industry. The vast majority of people will be involved in it in some way. It is a large island much of which currently is not directly affected. Yes their may be a few inconveniences but these will be nothing in comparison to what the locals are facing.

Greek authorities have confirmed this morning that 10-15% of Rhodes is affected. and that they’re not dissuading anyone from travelling.

With passengers!!

Someone upthread accused people of "adding to the drama"
I may be accused of this now - but why on earth would anyone go on holiday to Rhodes now?

Don’t bother posting things like this, the hysterics have already decided in their heads that 45% of the island is ON FIRE.

Can you imagine full planes still arriving if half the island was up in flames?

They are not. We have seen lots of people arriving for their 'holiday'

Completely agree

I wouldn’t feel comfortable going but I think it’s because 85% of the island is unaffected?

In some cases it could be like cancelling a city break to Cardiff because Anglesey was on fire.

Yes but it's very hot and dry all over the island.
Plus, I've been in Borneo when they've been burning the rainforest. The smoke is everywhere, you can taste it, it chokes you, even if you're right there.
If Anglesey were on fire because of extreme heat and Cardiff was a clear run through and tinder box dry, you might be concerned.

not right there, sorry.

So, @Usernamen - would you fly out today for a holiday in Rhodes? Genuine question.

FWIW looking at the aircraft tracking sites it looks like some flights landing at Rhodes to be arriving empty (there's sometimes an indicator in the callsign or flight number), but not all of them so I'd not be surprised if people are still arriving in decent numbers from a multitude of countries.

I'm not in the UK so I've perhaps seen a slightly different take on this due to our media (Broadcast and other): they covered the evacuations from hotels over the weekend and the fires are still being discussed a little this AM but I've not seen any reports of the package tour outfits here cancelling in significant numbers.

Certainly the couple of daily Easyjet flights to Rhodes from our local airport have been operating normally.

I'm in kos at the moment. Arrived yesterday. The air is hazy with the smoke from Rhodes and you can barely see the mountains for it, occasionally you get a surprisingly strong smell of it. There are lots of small planes and helicopters flying over monitoring Kos island for fires. I have been monitoring the temperatures in the iPhone app all week before arriving and was surprised to hear reports and people in the Kos holiday group saying that the temperatures were not being accurately recorded etc. Got here and sure enough, the temperatures are WAY higher than being reported. The pilot himself said that when we landed at 1pm it was 38c and when we finally got the car hire sorted out around 2pm the digital thermometer outside the building said 41c. Yet my iPhone app still said 33c! At the hotel they have a whole month of temperatures saved and all of the guests agree that it's ridiculously hot, much hotter than previous years and it's awful that it's not being reported accurately.

What you would save a 50 year old man before a baby and toddler with their mother? Glad you not in charge of any evacuations.

And a group of healthy 25 year old men before a frail old couple or a mother and children?

Did you read my post?

Yes I did.

They are. I’m not in England, but it’s all over the news here that Tui and others are sending empty planes to take passengers home. As they can’t offer new passengers any accommodation atm. So you are wrong.

My BFs son is cabin crew for Jet2 - the only flights they are now sending out to Rhodes will be rescue flights. I'm pretty sure the decision will be made for you by the end of the day.

But if not, no - personally I wouldn't go. That poor country has enough to deal with at the moment, and adding a load of fretful tourists to the mix must be making things even more impossible.

I am not wrong! I literally have seen people arriving with my eyes!

There might be empty planes coming too but I am not bloody lying about people arriving ffs.

Actually a lot of fires are started by someone leaving a bit of rubbish in the wrong place, not necessarily arson but carelessness- a bit of glass, sun on it and tinder dry land and it all goes up. Climate change of course plays a part if places are hotter and dryer than usual.

The airlines and government should be a bit more bloody responsible then and change the official advice so people can change dates or get refunds. It shouldn't be left up to individual customers to make decisions which will potentially leave them out of pocket.