Rhodes fireplace: Brits stranded on island slam ‘clueless’ easyJet – ‘get us home’

Worried Brits stranded on the Greek island of Rhodes are desperate to return home and are demanding better communication from airlines as wildfires tear through the Greek holiday destination for a sixth consecutive day.

Helen, whose last name has been withheld, is among a number of British tourists patiently waiting at Rhodes Airport for any sign of returning home on an easyJet flight back to Gatwick.

Helen from Kent said: “Our easyJet flight to Gatwick should have been at 21.10pm last night (July 22). We had just finished our holiday and we were returning home and now we are stranded at Rhodes airport.”

Disappointed in the lack of visible airline representatives to assist with scheduling, she added: “We have not seen a single easyJet colleague. The only communication has been through the app, but that has just been the flight moving later and later.”

The holidaymaker shared her app correspondence with Express.co.uk, which shows a series of repeated messages from easyJet stating: “We’re sorry for the delay to your flight. We are working to minimise the delay the place doable. Please proceed to verify Flight Tracker for additional updates.”

The messages from the airline additionally learn: “If you’re not at the airport yet, please still arrive on time for your flight as Bag Drop and boarding times may not be affected.”

Helen additionally described the state of affairs within the crowded airports as individuals grew more and more drained and hungry, some ready hours for updates from airways about whether or not they can safely be transported house.

In a sequence of images offered by the upset holidaymaker, some passengers are sleeping on the ground in cramped situations.

Helen added: “We were given a €4.5 (£3.90) voucher which does not cover the price of a coffee.”

During conversations with Helen, she was handed one other voucher from the workers on the airport, with one other €4.5 credit score.

Helen claims from the airport home windows she will see planes arriving with passengers into Rhodes, regardless of raging fires persevering with on the island.

Helen added: “We still have not seen any representatives from easyJet. There is no plan, no communication. At the moment, we have no clue how we will be getting home.”

Another passenger, Ben Wright, on the airport ready to board an easyJet flight stated: “Some passengers were put onto a plane and sat there in 40C for 30 minutes only to be told the diverted flight to Athens was cancelled… the most appalling conditions from @easyJet”.

This comes as easyJet passengers on the Greek airport have been instructed their captain is “refusing to speak” to them.

Express.co.uk has approached easyJet for remark. On its official Twitter, the airline says it’s “currently operating as normal to Rhodes” whereas they proceed to “closely monitor” the state of affairs and to verify standing of flights on Flight Tracker.

It added: “Any customers who are booked to travel to or from Rhodes until 29 July can transfer for free to another date or can request a flight voucher for the value of their unused flights, by calling our Customer Services.”

EasyJet shouldn’t be the one airline liable for the journey chaos as passengers from different airways report related points.

TUI passengers have been baffled branding the journey firm “totally irresponsible” as they continued to fly Britons to the Rhodes. It has since introduced it’s going to cancel all flights and booked vacation departures as much as July 25.

Jet2, nonetheless, introduced it was flying 5 plane to Rhodes with no prospects on board to deliver individuals again to the UK on scheduled flights.  

Greek authorities say round 19,000 individuals, together with many vacationers, have been evacuated from Rhodes as wildfires proceed burning for a sixth day, labelling it as “the largest evacuation from a wildfire in the country.”

Many components of central and southern Europe have been seeing temperatures of 40C+ previously two weeks and forecasters say these situations may persist for a minimum of two extra weeks to return.

The Foreign Office has up to date recommendation for Brits, advising them to observe steering from emergency providers.

It states: “The Greek government has established a crisis management Unit to facilitate the evacuation of foreign citizens from Rhodes. They can be contacted on +30 210 368 1730. For 24/7 British consular assistance, call +4420 7008 5000.”

“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.”