Pope Leo XIV's return home on Friday after a week-long visit to Spain has been delayed due to technical problems with his aircraft.
The Iberia-operated jet was unable to take off late in the afternoon from the Canary Island of Tenerife.
Spain's King Felipe, who had already officially bid farewell to the pontiff, boarded the plane and asked Leo to wait with him in the airport's VIP lounge.
It was initially unclear when the flight could continue. The captain did not provide any information about the nature of the technical problems over the onboard microphone.
The head of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics had been in Spain since last Saturday. He was originally scheduled to return to Rome around 8 pm (1800 GMT) with his delegation from the Vatican and numerous journalists on board.
Due to extended appointments, he was already an hour late for the scheduled departure.
During his last engagements on Friday, Leo again criticized human-trafficking rings and others who profit from migration. He also addressed the issues of a meritocracy and mass tourism, which are now causing problems and sparking discontent in the Canary Islands as well.
