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Danish tourists helping refugees in Greece

The Local Denmark
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Danish tourists helping refugees in Greece
Workers from the Ving travel agency hand out food to refugees on Lesbos. Photo: Ving

Large numbers of Danes are heading to Greece with bags of unwanted clothes and other goods to help newly-arrived refugees.

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Danish tour operator Spies and Swedish partner Ving have reported that despite a slow start, their offer to allow tourists to take up to 20 additional kilos of goods to Greece has recently caught-on with Danish and Swedish tourists. 
 
The scheme allows all customers flying out of Copenhagen Airport and Stockholm's Arlanda Airport and Copenhagen Airport in Denmark to Kos and Lesbos on flights operated by Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia. 
 
Ving spokeswoman Charlotte Hallencreutz said that up to 500 passengers carrying over ten tonnes of supplies including clothes, blankets and toys have taken advantage of the offer. 
 
“It started with 20-25 donations per flight, but last Sunday’s aircraft to Lesbos from Copenhagen had up to 50 donations out of the 212 passengers on board,” Hallencreutz told The Local. 
 
She added that the demand for the offer has been greatest in Denmark. 
 
"The flight to Lesbos from Copenhagen is sold out for the next two Sundays - because many have chosen to travel with us to the island to help the immigrants," Hallencreutz said. 
 
A lot of the tourists who don’t take an extra bag of clothes are still helping refugees. The tour companies say that a lot of their customers pack extra supplies in their luggage and leave goods behind before heading back home for Denmark or Sweden. 
 
The free package offer will continue for the next three weeks, Hallencreutz said. 

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