Two flights from Rhodes landed in Manchester this morning rescuing British holidaymakers from the fire-ravaged island. The TUI and Jet2 flights arrived at around 3am and 6.30am, according to the Manchester Airport website.
An Easyjet flight from the Greek island is scheduled to land at around 11.55pm tonight. The flights come after authorities began evacuating large swathes of the island of Corfu, which is also popular with British holidaymakers, after fires spread there on Sunday.
Meanwhile, a British Foreign Office spokesman confirmed a Rapid Deployment Team had arrived on Rhodes to support travel operators in bringing Brits home. Join our WhatsAp p Top Stories and Breaking News group by clicking this link. On Saturday, families fled their hotels, leaving their belongings behind, as the huge flames crawled closer, with some having to spend the night in local stadiums and schools.
Some flight operators, including Tui, continued sending tourists to the island as late as Saturday night, with one customer complaining they had been 'abandoned' there.