LONDON (Reuters) - British travel company Jet2 said it would operate four extra flights on Monday night to bring more of its customers back to the United Kingdom, after wildfires on the Greek island of Rhodes left them stranded.
Jet2 said repatriation flights to Manchester, Leeds Bradford and Birmingham would bring home about 800 people who had been forced to evacuate hotels, adding extra services on top of the 50 Rhodes to UK services it already has scheduled this week.
The company said it was also flying out more staff to help assist customers who had to flee their resorts and are now camped out in evacuation centres or waiting at the airport.
"We have a significantly expanded presence in Rhodes, with a huge team of experienced colleagues providing all the support we can for our customers," Jet2 said in a statement on Monday.
There are about 7,000-10,000 Britons on Rhodes currently, according to a junior minister, and like Jet2, airlines TUI (LON:TUIT) and easyJet (LON:EZJ) are both putting on additional services.
easyJet said it would have two repatriation flights on Monday and another on Tuesday, on top of its usual schedule of departures, and would keep under review whether it needed to add more.