Tenerife South Airport

The worst run airport I’ve ever been, traveling back home on Saturday 7th March, arrived with plenty of time, checked in baggage and through security no issues! Again plenty of time to have food etc regularly checking the boards for the gate information, boards then showed our flight at gate C aswell as several other flights, the queue to get through passport control and then to the individual gate was ridiculous, no staff there to help! By the time we made it to the exact gate after so much faffing our gate was closed and Ryanair advised the plane had left! Obviously through no fault of our own along with 70+ passengers! Multiple people asking for a supervisor and still not one person was offering any sort of help! The Ryanair staff at the gate had no idea and could not provide information! Airport staff were more interested in raising their voices at you instead of helping! All Ryanair could say is that they were going to unload all the checked luggage from the flight, and we would have to catch the next flight at 9am the following morning! Surely if you had time to unload the luggage you would have ample time to let passengers board? We were the last flight so could of just delayed the flight also? After constant back and fourths they finally agreed to let us board the plane! If this issue still persists in high peak there will be uproar! This experience has put a lot of people off flying to Tenerife! Get it sorted and get your staff some decent training in customer service! Awful!

When you exit the terminal, the public buses are to your left. To reach La Laguna, take bus 10 to the main Santa Cruz bus terminal, then transfer to bus 15. Easiest way to buy bus tickets is to use the Ten+Movil app. Top up with credit, then buy a day travel card for €10, then scan the QR code to validate when you get on each bus. You can buy a physical travel card from the vending machine but it will cost €2. There are some shops and cafes in the terminal, but prices are generally quite high (around €10-12 for a burger).

Absolutely terrible airport, with rude employees, huge queues everywhere. Be careful, they will measure every cm of your baggage and if you increase even for 1cm - They will threaten not to let you board the plane. Also, you will have so dramatically short time to pass security check with high probability to late for your flight.

Tenerife South Airport was extremely distressing and completely ruined the end of my holiday. Yesterday, 16.11.2025, at around 10:07 am, I had one of the worst airport experiences of my life. I suffer from anxiety, and I ended up having a full panic attack at the airport, my hands were shaking, I couldn’t catch my breath, I was crying, and I felt completely overwhelmed. My sister was also crying because we didn’t know what to do. In 2023, before flying to Tenerife, I asked Ryanair staff at Stansted Airport if I could check in a 40kg bag. They confirmed it was allowed, everything went smoothly, and I even have a photo from that trip showing the exact same suitcase with a “heavy” sticker on it. I made sure to ask as I didn’t want to waste money on check-in baggage and I wanted to follow the correct procedure. However, in 2025, at Tenerife South Airport, I was suddenly told that checking in 40kg “was not possible” and that the maximum was 32kg, even though I had paid for 40kg again. I showed proof from 2023: photos, flight details, and the weight allowance but the staff at Azul Handling (Ryanair customer service) kept repeating the same sentence: “It’s not possible. Maximum 32kg,” without actually explaining anything or trying to help. The staff were extremely unhelpful and rude. Even though I was visibly having a panic attack, crying, shaking, and struggling to breathe, they didn’t offer any support or patience. I felt like they didn’t want to help me or my sister at all. I felt like they were ignoring us and speaking over us. When the lady called her supervisor, she didn’t let me speak to her and gave her information that didn’t match what I had actually said. She spoke in Spanish, and I could understand that what she was saying wasn’t accurate. At one point, I was told something that felt really disrespectful while I was already shaking and crying: “You can move 8 kilos to a trash bag if you buy priority.” I couldn’t believe I was being told to repack my belongings into a trash bag. There was no information online, nothing on the Ryanair website, and nothing at the airport that mentioned any maximum of 32kg, especially considering I had already flown with 40kg once from this exact airport. In the end, I felt completely helpless and had no choice but to throw away around 5–6kg of valuable items and souvenirs. I managed to bring the suitcase down to 34kg, but at the check-in desk I was told again: “It has to be 32kg exactly.” While me and my sister were desperately trying to move 2 more kilos into my small bag, I overheard three Ryanair employees talking about us at desks 202–204, saying in Spanish: “It’s those girls with 40kg.” “Be careful; make sure their bag is exactly 32kg and not even 100g more.” They were laughing as they said it, and it was humiliating to hear, especially while crying and trying to get my breathing under control. I left the airport feeling completely helpless, with my holiday ruined. As someone who once lived in Tenerife and loves this island, this experience was extremely upsetting. My holiday ended with unnecessary stress that triggered anxiety, panic, and tears. Long queues for check-in, security, and passport control only added to the stress, and throughout the airport I saw several staff raising their voices at passengers. I’m sharing this experience so other travellers, especially those who struggle with anxiety, are aware of what can happen and can prepare themselves better. I will also attach the photos I took of the staff involved so people know exactly who I interacted with.

Manchester airport terminal 3 is the worst terminal I've ever been to but Tenerife is the worst airport I've ever been to. At least 2 hours of additional unnecessary queuing, no staff to advise on the ridiculous queueing times resulting in a lot of people missing their flights for no issue of their own. Probably going to miss my flight even after getting to the airport 3 hours before. Gate number only gets announced 1 hour before the flight which is no good as the queues after security to get to the gate are minimum 1hr. Apart from our specific queue (the UK gate) the airport was completely dead. The airport situation would put me off returning to Tenerife. Shame

Absolutely terrible airport with terrible staff and terrible organizational standards. I hope someone from the Tenerife South Airport reads this review. Last Saturday evening we had a flight departure at 8.10pm for Ryanair, Shannon. My wife and I along with our two sons 7 and 3 got to the airport at 4.45pm. Checked in our bag with Ryanair and went through security on to the departure lounge. We seen our gate was in the A section. We started to move to our gate area and seen there was a massive line trying to get through security A this was at 7.15pm . There was one woman shouting at people trying to use the automated gates some were working some weren't. There was one security man physically checking the passports. There was no organization here people didn't know what line to stand in for there passport control. There was EU/Irish passport holders and British passport holders all confused of which line to join. People were skipping lines as they weren't sure which one was correct. The two security personnel were very little help shouting at people. I URGE SOMEONE FROM TENERIFE SOUTH AIRPORT TO VIEW CCTV at 8pm on Friday the 27th of February at Gate security A to witness the below. We finally got to the top of the line for the security officer to check out passport and he told us to wait. He was letting Newcastle flight passengers through. When a woman (pink jumper, dark hair and glasses) from the Shannon flight approached the desk to ask a question he physically banged the desk with both hands and shouted at her, now my 7 year old son was head of the line to witness this and got the fright of his life, he has always looked up to people in uniforms as some sort of heroes but since then all he mentions is why did he shout at the woman what did she do wrong. He shouldn't have had to witness this rude, obnoxious behavior. Needless to say with all the mess at Gate A we were unable to board our flight. We were left stranded with two young children in the airport trying to organize new flights and accommodation. I will never visit Tenerife again after this episode.

We arrived at the airport 4.5 hours before our flight, expecting plenty of time, but the experience quickly turned into complete chaos. First, we queued for 90 minutes just to reach bag drop, only to be told that bags could not be checked in until 2 hours before the flight. We were asked to step aside and wait to be called back. We were travelling with two young children, aged 7 and 3, with the youngest in a stroller, which made the long wait even more difficult. After finally getting through bag drop, we then faced another extremely long queue at passport control. The situation there could only be described as total disorder. There was only one person working at passport control, and instead of managing the situation calmly, he became irate and arrogant, shouting at passengers throughout the airport. It was clear the airport was unable to manage the volume of people trying to catch their flights. By the time we finally reached the front of the queue, the officer simply looked at us and said “your flight is gone.” There had been no announcement calling the flight, and we had been standing in queues for hours. The way we were treated was completely unacceptable. We have travelled to many countries around the world, and I have never experienced such poor organisation or such disrespect toward passengers who were simply trying to get home. Sadly, after this experience, I will never travel through this airport again.

I am writing this to express my extreme dissatisfaction with the security personnel at Tenerife South Airport. Our recent experience was nothing short of a catastrophe, characterized by intimidation tactics and a complete lack of professional conduct. We were unnecessarily detained at the security checkpoint by an officer who seemed more interested in a power display than actual safety. The officer proceeded to rummage through my companion’s belongings without following any standard search protocol. The officer claimed our liquid protection bags were "impractical," proceeded to tear them open, and threw them away without providing the required airline-compliant replacements. A bottle of men's perfume carried by my female companion was flagged as "unacceptable." The officer insisted on confiscating it, despite the exact same product being sold in the duty-free shop just two meters behind the checkpoint. This felt less like a security measure and more like a targeted scam. When challenged on these inconsistencies, the officer summoned a policeman in an apparent attempt to intimidate us. Despite our explicit requests to communicate in English so we could understand the "violation," both officers spoke exclusively in Spanish, excluding us from the conversation regarding our own belongings. This was an unprofessional, stressful, and time-consuming ordeal. The lack of transparency and the blatant disregard for passenger rights is unacceptable.

An easy simple terminal! We arrived from Barcelona yesterday and got off the plane by stairs, a short walk to the terminal, and about a 5 minute walk to the baggage carousel. We waited for about 10 minutes before our bags came out. The restrooms are nearby, and it was a 5 minute walk to the taxis.

To say it seems like organized chaos here, would be an understatement! There's people every where, there's taped off lines everywhere, but not any actual staff guiding passengers through the first set of gates, the security control and then if you have to travel out of section C? I honestly can't get my head around how people navigate this terminal! The duty free shop that's literally like the top of the bottle neck (Americans will know what I mean)... really snarls the foot traffic up trying to get from security through to the terminals! A really horrendous design! Bathrooms: filthy! Sinks filthy, no toilet paper so everyone hoovers and pees all over the place! Completely unimpressed with this airport! The staff seem to not know what's going on, although a Jet2 female member of staff was very good at communicating to us.

Pretty decent airport. They have a barley and Burger King pre security with some retail shops nearby. Not much flair in terms of ambiance. Security went by pretty smoothly. I'd say you have more selection of food / retail past security.

Been here quite a few times - lovely little oceanfront airport with friendly staff. Good food selection, clean seating. Only downside, no private lounge - United terminal is all alone on the end with no amenities.

Entry into Tenerife - 2 hours waiting for passport control, staff with no answers/ who don't care, dirty floors, no crowd control, no access to toilets (children urinating in the queue), older ladies fainting, absolute chaos - every other country seems to do better than this Exit from Tenerife - 1h+ in the Ryan air queue to check a bag (poor staff levels and worse service). Security - rude staff telling people off for doing things "wrong" in the security queue with ZERO signs giving guidance (guess what we are not mind readers). Passport control over an hour queue - rude staff who refused to help and said they would help when it was the final call for our flight, only for this to happen and for them to shrug and say they can't do anything. AWFUL CUSTOMER SERVICE . Worst airport I've ever used and I have been to airports that are merely huts in African nations! Clearly do not want British tourists!

This is an average airport. We flew in and out of it on our whirlwind trip to Europe, which sadly cut short due to coronavirus. The airport needs some updating, as some of the flooring is broken. Overall, there aren't a lot of gates here. Getting to and from the airport is pretty easy but the roundabouts can be confusing. I will say everyone here was really nice though, which is a big positive. I hope to come back when there isn't a pandemic raging across the world!

Horrible experience first thing last Saturday at the Iberia check in counter Over 90 minute wait 2 employees, ridiculous

Free checked bags, check in downstairs (main floor) and security check (so fast!) and gates upstairs on second floor. Friendly efficient service. Easy layout.

The airport in Tenerife South is very big but easy to navigate. Going through customs was pretty fast but I literally almost started crying because the officer was so rude. Im a duel citizen but when in Europe I travel with my British passport even though im very American. From my understanding the Spanish arent fond of either but the island thrives because of tourists, and my first impression of Tenerife and Spanish people is this super rude immigration officer who refused to stamp my passport (I collect the stamps and have a new passport so this would have been my first one from the island my husband was born) and this asshole would not give me a stamp which is literally his only job meanwhile every person around me is getting stamps including the ones right after me. It ruined the first half of my day.

There is a special place in my heart for island airports, as I've made known in other reviews. It's impossible to be in a bad mood arriving at an island airport. Even if the passport line is long or the only thing to eat is Burger King, you're in paradise people, chill out! Now, leaving is another story, because no one wants a vacation to end... but even staring down the barrel of a four hour EasyJet (bleh) flight to Gatwick (bleh), my holiday glow would protect me. TFS is a solid choice as far as vacation airports go. If you're staying near La Tejita/El Médano/Los Abrigos you can practically walk there, though I wouldn't recommend it. Security queues look worse than they are. Last minute snack selections are pretty solid: I grabbed a panini and the biggest beer I've ever seen poured in Spain for a 6,90 EUR bargain. Hasta pronto, TFS.

Nice little airport. A small selection of shops and duty free. Some restaurants and fast food joints. The best about this airport is the view. It is located directly at the ocean so while waiting to board the plane you can watch ships pass by. The facilities are mostly clean (the toilets are the only place I didn't like). Baggage drop off can time some time, depending on the airline. The security check is actually pretty quick and efficient.

A medium size airport, Reina Sofia, is located on a barren stretch of land on the south of the Island, adjoining the coastal highway that runs between Santa Cruz and the tourist bases of Las Americas, etc. The passenger experience isn't too bad. When we passed through there were a lot of building works in progress, in the midst of expanding the airport. Traffic has boomed in recent years with the low cost airlines increasing their routes to Canary airports. Arriving was very quick, after the long walk down the hall to passport control. Departing was quick too through security checks. The shopping area is small, it has a main duty free shop and a few clothes shops, though they were in the process of adding more. When you leave the airport, if you need a bus, its not obvious, but you have to walk towards the car park for the green TITSAS where you can travel anywhere on the Island. Usually they're masked among tour operator buses. If you want to rent a car don't do it at the airport, go to a local company near your hotel, after arriving on a TITSA. Some locals are ridiculously cheap!

This is the most disgusting airport I have ever had the misfortune to use. First, there were piles of trash everywhere, around computer desks, on the seats, on the floor. Not shopping trash, but fast food leftover trash. French fries ground into the seats, spilled drinks, greasy hamburger wrappings. I'm surprised I didn't see rats or cockroaches. I had to wait nearly 2 hours for my flight and only saw 2 people cleaning the foodcourt. No one did a thing about the crap all over the terminal. The toilets were, if possible, even more disgusting than the terminal. The toilet paper covers were helpfully ripped off the walls, so you could see the poopy handprints all over the rolls, the floor was flooded with water and wet paper, and the hand dryers had clearly not been cleaned since they were installed. Finally, the entire airport smells of hotdogs thanks to the Oscar Meyer wiener carts.