Spanish King Felipe VI’s Private Jet Flew Pope Leo IV Back To Vatican As Pope’s Airbus Developed Engine Snag.

Tenerife, Spain; June 2026: Yesterday (Friday – 12th June 2026) when the Holy Father on his way back to the Vatican City, had boarded Iberia Airbus A320 at the Tenerife Airport, alongwith his delegation, the captain announced that the flight wont be able to take-off due to a severe engine malfunctioning amid strong winds at Tenerife Norte Airport (TFN) at around 16:00 hours local time.

Consequently, all occupants of the aircraft were forced to disembark after maintenance teams were unable to fix the engine problem. In a swift humanitarian gesture, Spanish King Felipe VI, who had personally seen the Pope off only moments earlier, offered up his Dassault Falcon 900 as an alternative mode of transport, which the Pope duly accepted.

Pope Leo XIV was in Spain this week, visiting Madrid, Barcelona, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and Tenerife as part of a seven-day apostolic visit.

The Vatican said: “Pope Leo XIV will return to Rome aboard an aircraft graciously made available by His Majesty the King of Spain. The flight is scheduled to depart at around 18:00 hours local time and is expected to arrive in Rome at approximately 23:00 hours (Rome Local Time). The Holy See staff and the journalists traveling on the papal flight will return in the coming hours on a separate aircraft”.

Along with the Pope and his inner circle, there were approximately 80 journalists on the aircraft, along with other Vatican officials and members of the Church. However, the Dassault Falcon 900 in its VIP configuration is believed to fit only around 12 passengers, which meant the majority of the delegation had to stay behind.

While the Pope and his closest aides were eventually able to depart Tenerife just before 19:00 Hours, dozens of his wider retinue were left waiting at the airport. Iberia eventually dispatched a replacement A320 from Madrid to transport those left behind back to Rome later that evening.

An engine start failure due to strong winds is a known phenomenon affecting aircraft engines, and the standard fix is precisely the repositioning procedure attempted in Tenerife. The airport is infamous for its powerful and changeable winds, making it one of the more difficult airports worldwide from an operational perspective.

While, ITA Airlines is the official airline of the Pope, but he does not always fly the Italian carrier for every journey he takes by air. Typically, the Pope will make the outbound journey from Rome with ITA (formerly Alitalia), but there is a tradition of using the host country’s flag carrier for the flight back home.

During his time in Spain from June 06th to 12th, Pope Leo relied on Iberia to fly between host cities, covering Madrid, Barcelona, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Tenerife. Friday’s incident was an exceedingly rare occurrence, with official sources citing it to be the first Papal flight malfunction requiring a change of aircraft in decades. The last known incident was in 1988, when Pope John Paul II’s plane diverted to South Africa amid poor weather, forcing the Pope to make his remaining journey to Lesotho by car.

Team Maverick.