LIVE Fires in Greece Airlines start grounding flights to Rhodes

LIVE Fires in Greece: Airlines start grounding flights to Rhodes

14:41

Jet2 flights to Rhodes have been canceled until July 30th

After canceling all flights to Rhodes for that day, Jet2 airline has announced that it will extend the cancellation until July 30th.

In fact, planes will fly there empty to take part in the evacuation of British tourists. “We are monitoring the situation and will continue to make decisions in the best interests of our customers,” the company wrote in a statement.

14:17

Tourists evacuated from Rhodes spent the night in a gym

13:05

Temperatures of over 44 °C are expected in Greece this Sunday

Temperatures are expected to top 44C this Sunday in Greece, which is “probably” experiencing the longest heatwave in its history, according to the National Meteorological Observatory. All archaeological sites, such as the famous Acropolis of Athens, remain closed during the hottest hours.

“We are likely to experience a 16-17 day heat wave, which has never happened in our country before,” Kostas Lagouvardos, director of research at the observatory, told ERT on Saturday.

“The difficult times are not over yet,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis warned on Friday, calling for “absolute vigilance.”

12:49 p.m

This French Canadair pilot is about to depart for the island of Rhodes

Canadair pilot Jean-Marc Matteo, who has arrived in Greece since Tuesday evening, told BFMTV that he will be based in Rhodes this Sunday afternoon.

The “temperature and wind conditions are difficult” on the island, the pilot explained.

“The situation in the Athens region is very calm,” he also stressed.

12:39 p.m

“We see how the fires progress”: the statement of a Frenchman on vacation in Rhodes

Hugo, who arrived on holiday on the island of Rhodes last Saturday, has been testifying on BFMTV since Tuesday “that the lights are going on”.

“We see the Canadair flying over our hotel. Everything has accelerated for two days,” he said. “We have power outages,” he also said.

> You can read our full article here.

12:25

Airlines begin to suspend flights to Rhodes

After the fierce fire on the island of Rhodes, airlines begin to suspend their flights.

This Sunday, Sky news announces that Jet2 has canceled all flights to Rhodes for the day. According to a press release, five flights were canceled as a result. However, the planes will actually fly there empty to take part in the evacuation of British tourists.

The tour operator TUI has also announced that it has suspended its tourist flights to Rhodes.

> Our full paper can be found here.

12:24

The Rhodes fire was the origin of the “largest evacuation operation ever carried out in Greece”

Rescuers carried out “the biggest evacuation operation ever in Greece” on the tourist island of Rhodes, where a fierce fire raged for the sixth straight day on Sunday, the police spokeswoman told AFP.

“It is the largest evacuation ever carried out in Greece (…) Everything went well. Everyone, especially the tourists, followed our instructions,” stressed Konstantia Dimoglidou, while around 30,000 people had to leave their homes or hotels on Saturday because of the fire.

> You can read our full article here.

12:23

Hello and welcome to this live

Hello and welcome to this post dedicated to the fires in Greece and the evacuation of the island of Rhodes, which was hit by a fierce fire.