The Spanish King had to come to the rescue of Pope Leo XIV after the special Airbus A320 operated by Iberia to fly the Pope and his entourage around the country during his apostolic journey to Spain broke down just before the final leg that was set to fly him back to Rome on Friday.
Pope Leo arrived in Spain on June 6 for a week-long tour that has seen him visit Madrid, Barcelona, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and Tenerife.
During this trip, the Pope, his entourage, and select members of the media have been flown by Spanish flag carrier Iberia on an Airbus A320 emblazoned with the papal shield on the front of the fuselage, and along with specially commissioned headrest covers featuring the Vatican shield.
On Friday, the Pope flew from Madrid to Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands and then headed to Tenerife, where he visited the Las Raíces migrant reception centre and spoke with several migrants, before meeting with organizations working for the integration of migrants.
This was the final item on Pope Leo’s itinerary for his tour of Spain, before he was due to depart on a flight from Tenerife to Rome.
After everyone had boarded the Iberia A320 (registration: EC-MDK), the pilot then announced there was a problem with one of the aircraft’s systems. The delay started to drag on, and the expected 3:20 pm departure time came and went without a fix.
In the end, maintenance teams had to admit defeat. The aircraft could not be fixed and the plane would not be able to fly the Pope back to Rome.
Thankfully, however, the Spanish King had one of his VIP aircraft on standby for just this kind of eventuality. The Dassault Falcon 900 operated by the 45th Wing of the Spanish Air Force was waiting at Tenerife North to whisk the Pope back to Rome.
Unfortunately, with very limited on board, the Falcon 900 departed Tenerife with only the Pope and his closest aides on board.
The rest of his entourage had to wait in Tenerife while Iberia flew out a replacement aircraft from Madrid. The flight was expected to arrive in Tenerife on Friday night and then quickly depart for Rome.
The incident will no doubt have been a disappointment for Iberia after the airline put so much effort into welcoming the Pope. Iberia had created a special menu inspired by typical Spanish cuisine for the delegation from the Holy See, and had even created special boarding music produced by the choir of the Escolanía de El Escorial.
The Pope ordinarily travels internationally with the Italian flag carrier, which, for many years, was Alitalia. Once the airline was made defunct, however, the Pope has traveled with ITA Airways, which is now owned by the German Lufthansa Group.
However, Iberia has a historic link with the Holy See, and is traditionally responsible for transporting the Pontiff on national travel around Spain, as well as his return to Italy.
