Tenerife Airport

Not Verified | Departure was an absolute shambles. The screens showed Go To Gate number 4 around an hour before the departure time and we duly joined the crowd of people standing around the closed gate entrance. There was very limited seating there so most people were standing. The screen above the Gate's locked glass door showed our flight details so we stood around and waited. After a while I noticed the screens had gone blank. There were gate staff behind the desk but they opened the doors on the opposite side (Gate number 5) and started to board the huge crowd of people that had been queuing over there. We fought our way through the crowd to check the screens above that entrance but it was for a different flight. My husband went to check the main departures board and it was now showing our flight boarding from Gate number 8. Cue a mad surge of people trying to fight their way through the crowds to the new Gate. Absolute chaos.

✅ Trip Verified | I missed my bus from Tenerife South airport to Tenerife Norte airport after getting stuck in an enormous passport queue on arrival on 3 Jan 20. It looked like there were around 1,000 people. Non-EU passengers and people with IDs were fast-tracked to short queues through counters with human passport control. People with EU passports (around 90%) of the crowd were only allowed to use the machines, which took ages because of the enormous numbers and time needed for fingerprinting etc. By the time I got out, my bus to Tenerife Norte airport had just departed. Have never seen such incompetent crowd management at any airport in the world.

✅ Trip Verified | I was shocked to experience stricter security at Tenerife Sur than anywhere in the world. However I had no complaint in taking every electrical item out of my hand luggage to go through the scanner 4 times, with my young child in tow. It was the attitude of the security staff that I would like to alert the management of the airport and any potential tourists reading this to. One security member of staff shouted “This isn’t a supermarket you know” when she told me to go through the scanner for a 2nd time. She spoke in Spanish with sarcasm and I still don’t understand her sarcastic comment but I felt it unnecessary and unprofessional, which, being a Spanish speaker I told her. She was so shocked that I understood her remark and asked her what the benefit of saying it was that a male then came over. He commented “you must be deaf” when I stated that I didn’t hear another female security staff member mouth from the other side of the scanner they cameras must be taken out of hand luggage (this is not expected in any other Spanish airports and I travel to Spain monthly as a journalist). Both of the comments and the general attitude meant that I asked to speak to management and the manager apologised but I still feel the need to warn other tourists about what to expect as it could happen again. The management of the airport needs to highlight that the security staff do not need to act as if they are implementing a rule of Franco’s Guardia Civil and treating tourists as the enemy. Most importantly the electronic equipment issue could have been avoided if there was one staff member at the entry to the scanner. Instead, several staff members were waiting and looked to be almost enjoying what they believe is their role of “bullying tourists”. How can this be correct? And how damaging for tourism in Tenerife? It will not be an airport I will hurry to return to and I’m well versed in the heavy hand of airport security in the US. But nowhere have I experienced such disrespect and the heavy hand of the staff’s “imagined power”.

Not Verified | Was told that the flight was about 1 hour late. Fair enough we will find something to eat and drink. Departures building at this airport is totally inadequate. Long queues at cafes. Not enough seating available. Not enough ventilation. Really awful place. Wanted to come back to Tenerife but not sure I can stand having to use this airport again.

✅ Trip Verified | Absolutely horrendous airport. Nowhere to sit for 3 hours. All food outlet queues were so long we just didn't bother. There were people sat on the floor everywhere in the airport as there were no seats at all. The worst airport I have ever experienced. The airport is clearly not large enough to accomodate this many customers. Never again.

✅ Trip Verified | Felt like 2nd class citizen. All EU passports had to queue for ages to use the 6 automatic booths. There were literally hundreds waiting ages and the man was asking people for Non EU passports and just pulled them to the front of the queue where 3 police/immigration officers were sat empty. It was reaching crisis point and the queue was backing up to the runway, down steps no working escalator and out the doors. Absolute chaos. Man was very rude and very dismissive. Having been to Tenerife for many years, sometimes 3 times per year. Will seriously consider not doing this again unless this fiasco changes. USA, Vhina and other ID cards are fast tracked and therefore more important.

Not Verified | My wife and I are disabled and requested Special Assistance when we booked our flights. When we arrived at the Assistance desk a curt and officious male receptionist told us we hadn't and after we had argued with him and shown him our documents he simply pointed at some seats and said 'Wait there'. We did while several other travelers came and went. When we were starting to worry about the time a young man and a young woman came to find us. Then they went to find some wheelchairs and we set off. They both ignored us, as thought we were baggage, and man spoke loudly to anybody and everybody with every breath he took. When we arrived at the Security Check he started to bark loud instructions to us in broken English offering no help at all. When we were recovering our belongings after they had been scanned the barking continued. So I barked back louder and told him off. He didn't like it but he shut up, and sulked. We were then pushed to the Gate and left in the wheel chairs in the middle of the floor. Our Assistants said 'wait there' and left. Two other, fairly cheerful, assistants returned after boarding was underway and took us to the plane. As someone who is fairly new to my disability I really resent being treated as a feeble-minded nuisance, hence this review.

✅ Trip Verified | Things were great until we needed to use the disabled assistance to board the plane. Well, mostly. We had been told to go to Gate 29 (by the guy at baggage drop) so the three of us (including my mum with reduced mobility) walked there. Upon checking the board for confirmation later, the gate had been changed to Gate 4. So we walked there. After about 20 minutes there, the gate was changed yet again to Gate 20. We looked for someone to give us some assistance to the new gate as my mum was struggling with all the walking but were just told "walk to the gate, then get assistance". So we did, she struggled her way to gate 20, and got there just in time for boarding. I found a person who handled the disability assistance, and her name wasn't even on the list for assistance, despite it being on her boarding pass. I explained that we had booked it, and he asked why we didn't have a wheelchair. I explained that she could walk, but it was a struggle for long distances and that she couldn't do stairs or slopes etc. He tutted and said "fine, follow me". We followed, but then another member of the disability assistance staff stopped us in the middle of a slope and was going to make us wait with everyone else. Again, we had to remind them that she is disabled and can't stand for long. After literally having to argue for her, she was allowed to join the rest of the people getting assistance. Not that there was much point because we were taken to the doors of the aircraft, and then my mum, and everyone who actually was in a chair, was made to stand for a good half an hour, having to hold on to other people to support themselves. The guy who was meant to be helping was more bothered about looking at his phone than helping the people he was employed to support, which is absolutely disgusting.

Not Verified | I wish to complain about special assistance at Tenerife South airport. Coming back from holiday, I booked special assistance for both arrival and departures. When arriving at Tenerife South no special assistance had been arranged. I was told at my apartment by my Tui rep that when getting to the airport to go to the special assistance desk next door to burger king. I did exactly that, it took someone nearly 30 minutes to bring a wheelchair for me, after all the checks I was wheeled down to the gate and I was told that someone would be at the gate about 11.10pm to get me onto the flight before everyone else. I was sat there in this wheelchair and 11.10pm came and no one was there, I waited until 11.25 before someone came and took me down to the plane. The boarding had begun. We also went to Los Cristianos 3 years ago, me and another lady had to have special assistance but we were forgotten about and we were last on the plane. It is a disgraceful way to treat disabled passengers. Clean up your act.

Not Verified | This must rate as one of the worst managed airports. From arriving from Manchester at 11:45 to getting through passport control at 13:30. We then found my husbands suitcase had not arrived. Finally it came with all the prams and pushchairs. The person in charge of directing the crowds had little effect and it was every man for himself. An exhausting and very unpleasant start to our holiday. The Tui rep then gave us false information which had us trying to sort out our next part of our journey ourselves. Tenerife airport get your act together. This is the second bad experience at this airport, the first left me in tears and I'm a granny, mid sixties.