Athens wildfires: What are your rights if you are there or have a holiday booked?

At least 600 firefighters have been deployed as a serious forest fire rages out of control on the outskirts of the Greek capital, Athens . The historic Greek town of Marathon, is said to be “engulfed in flames”, with the population evacuated. This is happening in the peak summer spell, so what are your rights if you are there or have a holiday booked? Simon Calder, travel correspondent of The Independent , has some answers.

Yes. Flights are continuing normally for now at Athens airport: smoke can be seen from planes taking off and landing, but with the current landing pattern – from southwest to northeast – aircraft are approaching from exactly the opposite direction. There is no current threat to the airport as the area surrounding it is partly built up and open land has very little vegetation.

It’s a different story on the ferries. Greece’s coastguard has ordered all ferries going to and from the nearby port of Rafina to be diverted to the port of Lavrion, further south, due to the fire. Rafina was where dozens of people were killed in wildfires in 2018.

Rafina serves mainly the Cycladic islands and Crete. Lavrion is not such a large port, and it may struggle to handle the full complement of ferries that would normally serve Rafina. Activities are continuing as normal in Athens.

There has been no update from the UK Foreign Office in response to the latest fires, but the advice to British travellers to Greece remains the same as it has been all summer: “Call th.