British tourists have been warned that one Canary Island airport has been ranked the ‘worst’ in Spain. Tenerife South Airport has earned the unwelcome title after racking up a staggering 189 complaints.
They include passengers’ inappropriate or conflictive behaviour during commercial flights in 2023, according to the latest data from the State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA).
The high number of reported incidents at Tenerife South Airport, also known as Reina Sofia Airport, far surpassed those at other major Spanish airports, with Alicante ranking a close second with 184 complaints, followed by Palma de Mallorca with 177 incidents.
AESA attributes this surge in complaints to several incidents involving groups of passengers on the same flights, indicating a worrying trend of disruptive behaviour in the skies.
In the Canary Islands, Gran Canaria Airport ranked seventh nationally with 64 cases, while Lanzarote followed closely in ninth place with 41 complaints. Tenerife North Airport, although lower on the list, still saw 12 reported incidents.
José Luis Feliú, the spokesperson for the Union of Air Traffic Controllers (USCA) in the Canary Islands, expressed concerns over the visibility of such incidents due to social media.
“What is happening now is that they are more visible due to social media showing videos and images of the altercations,” Feliú said.
Francisco Cruz, a pilot and member of the technical department of Sepla (Spanish Union of Airline Pilots), echoed Feliú’s concerns, emphasising that mid-flight altercations pose significant risks to passengers and crew alike.
Cruz noted a worrying trend: “In 2023, there was an incident with one or several passengers for every 568 flights, showing a considerable increase from 2022.”
Common grievances include failure to comply with crew instructions, verbal harassment of airline staff, abusive alcohol consumption, and physical altercations. Cruz highlighted a 67 percent increase in physical attacks compared to the previous year.
In response to these challenges, the International Federation of Air Line Pilots Associations and IATA have proposed a multi-faceted strategy. This includes prevention and deterrence measures such as preventing intoxicated or disruptive passengers from boarding and enhancing staff training to deal with such situations.
Additionally, there are calls to toughen penalties for disruptive behaviour, with proposals suggesting fines of up to 40,000 or 45,000 euros, and even consideration of unilateral bans on flying for individuals charged with causing disruptions on planes.
Express.co.uk has approached Tenerife South Airport for comment.
