Updated

Updated · The Washington Post · Jun 12

King Felipe VI Gives Pope Leo XIV Jet Ride After Iberia Engine Failure Ends 7-Day Spain Trip

Updated

Updated · The Washington Post · Jun 12

King Felipe VI Gives Pope Leo XIV Jet Ride After Iberia Engine Failure Ends 7-Day Spain Trip

Q: Why was the Pope flown home on a royal jet while 80 journalists and staff were left behind?

The Pope was flown home on a royal jet because his scheduled Iberia charter could not depart after an engine startup failure, and King Felipe VI immediately offered his own aircraft to get the pontiff back to Rome without further delay. The problem occurred after Pope Leo XIV, his delegation and about 80 journalists and Vatican staff had already boarded the Iberia Airbus A320 at Tenerife North Airport. The pilot reported a startup failure in one engine, with strong winds cited as a likely factor. Everyone had to disembark, and the Pope was taken back to the VIP lounge. At that point, the Spanish king, who was still at the airport after the farewell ceremony, offered the use of his Falcon jet. Because the royal aircraft had limited capacity, it could take only the Pope and a small group from his immediate entourage, including senior aides, not the full papal party and media contingent. The journalists and remaining Holy See staff were not abandoned permanently; they were left behind temporarily because the replacement transport had to be arranged separately. Iberia said it was sending another aircraft from Madrid to collect them and complete the trip to Rome. So the split was driven by logistics and urgency, not by a decision to exclude the press. The Pope was given the fastest available option by the Spanish monarch, while the larger group had to wait for a plane with enough seats.

3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Jun 12

A system failure on Pope Leo XIV’s chartered Iberia flight stranded him in the Canary Islands just after he closed his seven-day Spain visit with an outdoor Mass.
King Felipe VI then boarded the plane himself and escorted the first U.S.-born pontiff off, arranging transport on the Spanish monarch’s Falcon jet back toward Rome.
The disruption at Tenerife delayed the pope’s departure by more than three hours and marked a rare hitch in modern papal travel.
The episode capped a weeklong trip that took Leo through Madrid, Barcelona and the Canary Islands, with Felipe closely accompanying the visit.