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Due to the terrible forest fires in the center and south of Rhodes, 30,000 tourists have been evacuated from the Greek island so far. Among them were many Swiss.
Tour operators keep in touch with local customers and arrange free return flights, if possible, for those who take a break from their vacation and return home early. In some cases, full leases are also arranged. An Edelweiss flight from Rhodes landed in Zurich at 6:35 am on Monday morning. Also on board: no one. This was reported by Nau.ch.
The plane can’t wait forever
At Blick’s request, Edelweiss Air confirmed it was a full charter. The airline said, “We made this flight on behalf of a tour operator and carried out the Zurich-Rhodes-Zurich route in a short time according to this instruction. Responsibility for seat reservation and timely arrival of passengers lies with the responsible tour operator, not Edelweiss.»
In plain language: Edelweiss fulfilled an order as requested, but returned empty as there was no one in Rhodes. Because the airline cannot take passengers randomly. And don’t just wait and see: the plane and crew are needed elsewhere.
Who sunk?
It remains a mystery for a long time. Which tour operator do you mean? Edelweiss does not provide any information. Not kuoni. Hotelplan has previously organized free return flights for passengers wishing to return to Switzerland.
Only Tui Suisse remains. Several hundred guests are impressed by the third largest tour operator in Switzerland. This justifies the use of a full statute. But apparently no one got on. In her finest PR German, spokesperson Sonja Ptassek confirms: “Unfortunately, our full contract to and from Zurich was not successfully implemented today for logistical reasons.”
300 service personnel on site
Since the weekend, more than 300 Tui service personnel are on site around the clock to ensure the safety of Tui guests and provide them with alternative accommodation, food and drink. Ptassek says they will check which guests still need and need unscheduled return trips.
The question remains what went wrong. Such full leases quickly add up to six figures for the customer. If the charter then flies back without passengers, this is more than annoying. Are passengers too late or poorly informed? Did they prefer solutions other than a flight home? Unfortunately, the company leaves all these questions unanswered.
Successful passenger returns from crisis areas are often celebrated in the media. This empty flight, on the other hand, was useless for everyone involved.
this is how others help
Meanwhile, other companies are busy with Touring Club Suisse (TCS) announcing on Monday that it is helping 80 members in need in Rhodes, based on its ETI protection letter. In addition, the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) announced that it has opened a counter at Rhodes airport for Swiss citizens seeking assistance. The FDFA hotline has now answered more than 150 questions about the situation on the island.
Source :Blick
I’m Tim David and I work as an author for 24 Instant News, covering the Market section. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, my mission is to provide accurate, timely and insightful news coverage that helps our readers stay informed about the latest trends in the market. My writing style is focused on making complex economic topics easy to understand for everyone.
