Ryanair resists pressure to organize rescue flights to Greece

Wildfires on the Greek island of Rhodes leave tourists stranded Photo: Will VASSILOPOULOS/AFP

Ryanair resists launching emergency repatriation flights to Greece despite raging forests The low-cost airline insists it will operate as normal today.

The company's announcement came after rival carriers including EasyJet, Jet2 and TUI sent additional aircraft to the island of Rhodes, where thousands of British holidaymakers are trying to escape.

A notice on Ryanair's website this morning said the airline's flights to and from Rhodes and Corfu, where fires and evacuations are also taking place, are «currently are carried out as usual and have not been affected by forest fires.

< p>He added that passengers in Rhodes can seek help from Greek government officials at the island's airport if they have lost their travel documents.

One woman tweeted: “My sister is currently in Lindos, Rhodes with ash falling around her from wildfires. She contacted the Ryanair company she was traveling with to see if they could help her get back home, but apparently they don't consider it an emergency.» Firefighters on the island have been fighting intense wildfires since last Tuesday. Photo: Damianidis Eleftherios/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images.

Government officials have put pressure on travel companies to ensure that tourists who want to can return home.

Shares in travel companies fell on Monday as wildfires disrupted a key summer holiday season. Shares in IAG, owner of British Airways, fell 1.9% in early trading, Wizz Air more than 3% and TUI and EasyJet more than 2%.

Ryanair fell 6% as the Irish carrier also warned it was facing a delay in important aircraft orders and may be forced to lower ticket prices in the winter to boost demand.

Ryanair CFO Neil Sorahan said this morning that his airline has not yet operated evacuation flights from Rhodes or other Greek resorts.

Flights bringing British holidaymakers from the fire-ridden island of Rhodes were returning to the UK 'half empty'.

>Up to 10,000 Britons are estimated to be on the island, which has been battling wildfires since last Tuesday.

Mr Sorakhan's comments come after Ryanair said it nearly quadrupled its profits thanks to a surge in demand over Easter and the post-corona weekend ation.

Irish airline's first-quarter profit was £574m, compared to £147m a year earlier.

Fares were cut. up 42 percent on average at €49, while passenger traffic was up 11% from a weak performance a year earlier, when demand was impacted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

A Ryanair spokesperson said: «Ryanair's flights to and from Rhodes and Corfu are currently on schedule and have not been affected by the bushfires.» Police.

“The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs has set up a help desk at Rhodes Airport to help passengers who have lost their travel documents.”