"worst airport I've come across"
Evan Baars (United Kingdom)
✅ Trip Verified | This is the worst airport I've come across. Primarily due to the security staff who seem to enjoy wasting everyone's time and making you unpack your bags 100% and then walk through the scanner multiple times. I won't return to Tenerife due to the airport security.
Experience At Airport | Departure Only |
Date Visit | May 2021 |
Type Of Traveller | Business |
Queuing Times | 12345 |
Terminal Cleanliness | 12345 |
Terminal Seating | 12345 |
Terminal Signs | 12345 |
Food Beverages | 12345 |
Airport Shopping | 12345 |
Wifi Connectivity | 12345 |
Airport Staff | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"run the gauntlet in the airport"
Margaret Ferguson (United Kingdom)
Not Verified | We arrived here having been delayed for a day because of the airport closure due to a sandstorm. The first problem was getting a set of steps. Maybe no-one had told them a little TUI plane was landing. The second was getting a bus to the complex (they park the planes by the sea so they can sunbathe). Said bus had the sand in it from day before so we couldn't use the seats. As last year they dumped us at an entry point which had escalators but they weren't working. I have difficulty with steps, and the number here would have taken me 30 mins. Hubby spotted that the up escalator on the other side started to work, so we started to go that way. A man shouted that we couldn't. I said I don't do steps. He said you should have asked for a wheel chair. ( I had asked for special assistance but I thought I only needed it in case they changed the gate on departure which they do quite regularly, and I hate being pushed in a wheelchair). I pointed out that wheelchairs don't do steps either. The argument grabbed the attention of a manager who started the escalator for us. They stop them when there are a lot of people for safety reasons, allegedly. We got through passport control reasonably quickly, but the final huge problem was the luggage. The main board showed a belt, and we all stood there. Belt started and easyjet flight next on list came through. Our flight vanished. We stood there. I walked to the main arrivals/belt board and our flight had disappeared. I went to an airline help desk and was told to go to Iberia, which I did, only to find other people from our flight waiting for the attendant to come back. The general airport help desk was unattended. After an hour and thirty minutes, the luggage was shown on another belt and started to come through, but the belt kept sticking. It took 2 hours to clear the luggage hall during which time a flight from Bologna came in, in the middle of a Coronavirus outbreak there. This is not the first time we've had problems in the luggage hall, so it's time to update systems. Our main problem on departure was the length of time it took to check in. It was not helped by a guy who was not very mobile and his wheelchair bound wife and carer. They took twenty minutes. Other airports have special needs systems which whisk such people through. Not Tenerife. We arrived at 5.59 for an 8.10 flight which luckily was delayed 45 mins. We got through check in at 7.30. The queue was not helped by the attendants stopping to gossip regularly. Even when we were waiting for our passports back she stopped for a gossip then her supervisor arrived and gossiped for another few minutes. The good point was that check-in taking so long meant that security wasn't crowded so the security people were in a good temper. Yes, Tenerife has lovely weather, some good beaches and interesting history, but boy you have to run the gauntlet in the airport.
Experience At Airport | Arrival and Departure |
Date Visit | March 2020 |
Type Of Traveller | Couple Leisure |
Queuing Times | 12345 |
Terminal Cleanliness | 12345 |
Terminal Seating | 12345 |
Terminal Signs | 12345 |
Food Beverages | 12345 |
Airport Shopping | 12345 |
Airport Staff | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"No understanding or empathy at all"
M Craine (United Kingdom)
Not Verified | No issues with staff until security. As I need a walking stick when walking I was allowed to go to special assistance security. I have mobility issues and agonizing back and leg pain especially after standing in the queue for approximately 30 minutes. After putting all my items on the tray to scanned, including my walking stick, I went through the scanner without any problem. My trays came through and the female security lifted my trays and shoved them at me, telling me that all electronic devices must be put in a separate tray. She then lifted my other tray and started pushing it at me too. I tried to explain that I couldn't take the trays and walk at the same time. Yet she continued to push the trays at me, pushing them hard into my chest. Eventually the male security guard told her that I had problems walking. She didn't even apologize and I was really angry. It's hard enough for me to use a stick as I'm 47. She was really aggressive and is in the wrong job as she was on the assisted security line. No understanding or empathy at all!
Experience At Airport | Departure Only |
Date Visit | February 2020 |
Type Of Traveller | Family Leisure |
Queuing Times | 12345 |
Terminal Cleanliness | 12345 |
Terminal Seating | 12345 |
Terminal Signs | 12345 |
Food Beverages | 12345 |
Airport Shopping | 12345 |
Wifi Connectivity | 12345 |
Airport Staff | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"bored and indifferent staff"
Clive Donovan (United Kingdom)
✅ Trip Verified | The worst airport ever! Mainly because of the thugs employed as security staff who seem to enjoy bullying and humiliating their customers. My team of four stood and shouted and even pushed me because I wear silver bracelets that I cannot remove by myself. They couldn't be bothered to scan me [too lazy]. If the doorway beeps, you don't get through. If you remonstrate they pretend not to speak English. They missed their vocation as concentration camp guards, the men and the women. Thoroughly nasty humans. Then the plane sat on the tarmac for 45 minutes with no explanation except from the pilot, 'this is a very busy airport'! Oh yes the fingerprinting as you arrive, thoroughly rubbish technology, everyone needed help from bored and indifferent staff.
Experience At Airport | Arrival and Departure |
Date Visit | February 2020 |
Type Of Traveller | Family Leisure |
Queuing Times | 12345 |
Terminal Cleanliness | 12345 |
Terminal Seating | 12345 |
Terminal Signs | 12345 |
Food Beverages | N/A |
Airport Staff | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"This was incredibly embarrassing"
S Gladwyn (United Kingdom)
Not Verified |
I had already checked the weight of my suitcase on one of the airport's own scales on the way to the check in desk and it was fine (the same weight as on the flight there with exactly the same contents). The lady then told me it was 4 kilos overweight and I would have to pay 17 Euros per kilo overweight. I did not intend to pay 68 Euros so decided to take things out to reduce the weight. This was incredibly embarrassing to do in front of so many people as well as throwing away toiletries to reach the magic number. After a humiliating 5 minutes (which felt like a lifetime) and putting on several layers of clothes and transferring items to my hand luggage, I was then informed that there was a "computer problem" and that it was a mistake and to come back to her. I then had to embarrassingly go to the front of the queue with a lot of extra clothes on which made a very uncomfortable flight. I later discovered that the scales read 4 kilos with nothing on them.
Experience At Airport | Departure Only |
Date Visit | January 2020 |
Type Of Traveller | Couple Leisure |
Queuing Times | 12345 |
Terminal Cleanliness | 12345 |
Terminal Seating | 12345 |
Terminal Signs | 12345 |
Food Beverages | N/A |
Airport Staff | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"Absolute disgrace"
C Payne (United Kingdom)
✅ Trip Verified | Worst airport I have ever been to. Herded about like sheep due to staff incompetence. Mega queue to check in. Customs people are the most rudest obnoxious people ever. No chance for even a coffee. Absolute disgrace. Tenerife will never see me again.
Experience At Airport | Departure Only |
Date Visit | January 2020 |
Type Of Traveller | Couple Leisure |
Queuing Times | 12345 |
Terminal Cleanliness | 12345 |
Terminal Signs | 12345 |
Food Beverages | N/A |
Airport Staff | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"Departure was an absolute shambles"
JP Coops (United Kingdom)
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.
Experience At Airport | Departure Only |
Date Visit | December 2019 |
Type Of Traveller | Couple Leisure |
Queuing Times | 12345 |
Terminal Cleanliness | 12345 |
Terminal Seating | 12345 |
Terminal Signs | 12345 |
Food Beverages | N/A |
Airport Staff | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"incompetent crowd management"
F Jones (Spain)
✅ 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.
Experience At Airport | Arrival Only |
Date Visit | January 2020 |
Type Of Traveller | Couple Leisure |
Queuing Times | 12345 |
Terminal Cleanliness | 12345 |
Terminal Signs | 12345 |
Food Beverages | N/A |
Recommended | no |
"role of bullying tourists"
J Horner (United Kingdom)
✅ 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”.
Experience At Airport | Departure Only |
Date Visit | December 2019 |
Type Of Traveller | Family Leisure |
Queuing Times | 12345 |
Terminal Cleanliness | 12345 |
Terminal Seating | 12345 |
Terminal Signs | 12345 |
Food Beverages | 12345 |
Airport Shopping | 12345 |
Wifi Connectivity | 12345 |
Airport Staff | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"Not enough seating"
Shelagh Philpot (United Kingdom)
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.
Experience At Airport | Departure Only |
Date Visit | October 2019 |
Type Of Traveller | Family Leisure |
Queuing Times | 12345 |
Terminal Cleanliness | 12345 |
Terminal Seating | 12345 |
Terminal Signs | 12345 |
Food Beverages | 12345 |
Airport Shopping | 12345 |
Airport Staff | 12345 |
Recommended | no |