Updated

Updated · The Washington Post · Jun 12

Pope Leo XIV Takes King Filipe VI's Jet to Rome After Iberia Plane Engine Failure

Updated

Updated · The Washington Post · Jun 12

Pope Leo XIV Takes King Filipe VI's Jet to Rome After Iberia Plane Engine Failure

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

King Filipe VI flew Pope Leo XIV back to Rome on his private Falcon jet after the pope’s chartered Iberia plane was grounded in the Canary Islands by an engine system failure.
A captain first announced a system problem shortly after boarding, then later said the issue was severe enough for remaining passengers to disembark after failed attempts to resolve it on the tarmac.
Leo left with a small group of senior Vatican aides and skipped his customary in-flight news conference, while about 80 Vatican press corps members and other staff waited for a replacement plane from Madrid.
The disruption came at the end of Leo’s seven-day Spain trip and echoed earlier papal flight troubles, which have more often been tied to weather than technical faults.