Pope Leo XIV faced an unexpected travel delay during his visit to Spain when his Iberia charter flight experienced technical difficulties. Luckily, King Felipe VI came to the rescue by offering his private jet to the Pope. This allowed Leo to return to Rome, despite the setback.

The issue arose when the Iberia flight was grounded due to a problem with the engine’s start mechanism. After initial attempts to fix the issue failed, passengers including Leo had to disembark. Spain’s king personally escorted Leo to the Falcon jet on the tarmac at Santa Cruz de Tenerife airport in the Canary Islands. After a three-hour delay, the Pope and members of his delegation departed for Rome.

This incident marked a rare occurrence of such travel complications for a pope. Veteran Vatican reporters recalled similar incidents, like St. John Paul II’s forced landing during a 1986 trip from India due to a snowstorm in Rome, and his diverted flight in 1988 towards South Africa because of weather conditions.

Typically, a pope’s travel arrangements involve ITA Airways flying them to destinations, while the host country’s national carrier flies them back. In this case, the Spanish airline Iberia took pride in carrying Leo on previous legs of his journey, from Madrid to Barcelona and then to the Canary Islands. During these flights, the Spanish military provided airborne escorts as a mark of respect for the visiting dignitary.