British tourists are struggling to get refunds for holidays to Rhodes after the island was hit by wildfires, with one woman describing her situation as an “absolute nightmare”.
Anita Madhas, 49, was scheduled to travel to Rhodes in early August with her 72-year-old mother in a group of around 20 friends and family, but they no longer wish to go to the island after their hotel, the Lindos Imperial, was partially damaged by fire.
Ms Madhas paid just over £1,000 for return flights for herself and her mother for August 3 to 13, which have not been cancelled.
She said: “That flight is scheduled to go out to Rhodes and I won’t get a refund. I only get a refund if that flight is cancelled.
“It’s just an absolute nightmare at the moment. I’m trying to get everybody to get some kind of transfer or refund, so that we can all rebook and go somewhere else.
“Even if we decided to change the hotel to a different destination on the island, there’s still no 100% guarantee that the hotel is going to be safe and our holiday is going to be what we expected it to be.”
Ryanair press office told the PA news agency: “Ryanair flights to/from Rhodes are currently operating as scheduled and remain unaffected by the forest fires.
“All passengers travelling from Tuesday 25 to Sunday 30 July inclusive to/from Rhodes can change their flight free of charge online via the website/app.”
Colin Spicer, 42, who had planned to travel to Rhodes with his wife and their two daughters, aged 11 and 15, said their hotel, the Rodos Princess Beach, had announced all reservations would be cancelled until the end of August.
He added that easyJet Holidays has not said if it will cancel or amend the package holiday.
Your hotelier is saying it's not going to open, so you've got no option but to give that money back because you can't fulfil the holiday to what we've booked
Mr Spicer said easyJet has “not been very helpful at all given they’ve got quite a substantial amount of our money” for the family’s holiday, booked from August 22.
Addressing the company, he said: “Your hotelier is saying it’s not going to open, so you’ve got no option but to give that money back because you can’t fulfil the holiday to what we’ve booked.”
He said his family are hesitant to book another summer holiday while they wait for clarity from easyJet Holidays due to the “uncertainty” of whether they will be refunded.
The firm told PA: “EasyJet Holidays has cancelled package holidays to impacted resorts in the south of Rhodes departing up to and including 29 July and has proactively contacted impacted customers who are due to travel, and processed full refunds.
“We are also contacting customers due to travel to a small number of resorts that remain impacted in Rhodes up to 10 August to discuss their options.
“EasyJet continues to operate its flying schedule to Rhodes, however, we understand that some customers travelling to the affected area may want to change their plans.
“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 easyJet Customer Services.”
Adam Dabrowski, 69, has cancelled his accommodation in Rhodes as the owner told him the surrounding area had been damaged by wildfire, but he has not been able to cancel his £400 return flights with easyJet.
He told PA: “Obviously, I don’t want to lose financially but I’m also very concerned for the people on the island, and specifically the owners of our property because we know them.
“It’s a very difficult position for the people there.
“On the other hand, I would appreciate if easyJet took a more generous attitude towards people who maybe don’t want to fly to that area.”
