Runway blocked at Tenerife South airport after Ryanair plane aborts takeoff

The Tenerife South airport is experiencing significant delays and diversions this afternoon (Saturday), due to the runway being blocked by a Ryanair plane after an aborted takeoff for safety reasons, as confirmed by air traffic controllers.

Apparently, shortly before the plane was due to take off at around 11:30 this morning for Bournemouth, the aircraft's brakes reached extremely high temperatures for unknown reasons and locked up causing the flight crew to stop the takeoff.

Several flights, including a medical one, have had to be diverted to Tenerife North and Gran Canaria airport because they cannot move the stationary plane from the runway.

Eurocontrol, the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation, has reported that departures from Tenerife South are not authorized until 7:00pm tonight, although it is expected that the runway will be cleared before that time.

Work is currently underway to unlock the aircraft's landing gear so that it can be towed away as soon as possible.

B738 de Ryanair bloquea pista de Tenerife Sur al abortar despegue hace más de 30 minutos. Muchos vuelos han tenido que desviarse a aeropuertos alternativos. Importantes demoras. #SafetyFirst #Trabajoenequipo pic.twitter.com/fdP05QqdSJ

— 😷Controladores Aéreos 🇪🇸 (@controladores) August 27, 2022