London, Thanasis Gavos

Nine of Britain’s 11 major newspapers carried pictures or reports from the fires in Rhodes on the front page on Monday, as concern for UK holidaymakers continued.

Dozens of British tourists describe dramatic scenes from the evacuation operation on Saturday night and how they have spent two nights in schools, gyms, exhibition grounds and on the floors of hotels and Rhodes airport.

There are also many references to the “amazing” Rhodians, who helped and continue to help foreign visitors as best they can. There are descriptions of ordinary people, shopkeepers and hoteliers who rushed to offer water, food and watermelon, clothes, towels, mattresses, transport in their cars or even their homes.

On the contrary, the criticism against major British airlines and tour operators continues to be fierce. They are accused by their clients in Rhodes of being absent at critical moments or of giving incomplete and sometimes incorrect information.

On the other hand, there has been praise for the initiative of British agents, mainly from smaller agencies, who were trying to give clear information. A case has been reported where the representative of such a small office paid out of her own pocket for the plane tickets of a British family who flew from Rhodes to Kos on Sunday morning, managing to secure accommodation as well.

The British government is putting pressure on the airlines to make available in the coming days enough flights to leave Rhodes as many Britons who wish to, or who were going to return to Britain anyway.

TUI was the first to cancel flights and travel packages to Rhodes until Tuesday, while for Wednesday it offers options to change plans or compensation to its customers.

Jet2 has extended the cancellation of flights to the island until Sunday and is clearing aircraft due to fly to Rhodes to be used to evacuate “trapped” Britons.

EasyJet has canceled flights until Tuesday and is the first company to announce additional flights with the sole purpose of evacuating Britons. In addition to its nine aircraft that were to fly to Rhodes by tomorrow, two empty planes will be sent today, with a total capacity of 421 seats, and one more on Tuesday.

British Airways is continuing flights but is giving travelers the option to change or cancel their bookings free of charge, as is Thomas Cook, which has canceled packages to Kiotari and Lardo until the end of the month. The company announced that it has 300 customers in Rhodes with at least 40 having to evacuate their hotels.

The British government calls on the British people in Rhodes, but now also in Corfu, to be more careful, to follow the instructions of the Greek authorities and to contact 112 if necessary, as well as the telephone numbers of the British consular authorities.

Since Sunday afternoon, the Foreign Office’s Rapid Development Team sent from London has been operating at Rhodes airport. It is made up of five officials from the British Foreign Office and four members of the British Red Cross, who act as mediators between travelers, the Greek authorities and tour operators in order to complete the process of leaving the island, especially for cases where passports are not available due to the hasty evacuation.

The chair of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, Alicia Cairns, criticized the government for its slow response, saying the Foreign Office should have been deployed in Rhodes from the outset.

Downing Street, meanwhile, said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was being kept up-to-date on the situation in Rhodes over the weekend.