Sunday, it is the end of Holy Week and the airport Tenerife Norte – Ciudad de La Laguna is bustling with travellers returning home after a few days of rest in Tenerife. Among these thousands of passengers are Rocío and Álvaro Bienert, two siblings returning to Madrid. Álvaro, a doctor by profession, is leaving the island after working there for some time. It is a complete relocation with his two cats, Naia and Gofio (adopted in the Canary Islands). Both pets are travelling on an Iberia Express flight and each must be in a carrier.
Álvaro paid 145 Euros for each of his pet’s tickets and, as per the protocol when travelling with pets in cargo, after completing all the paperwork, they must go, always with the company of an airline employee, to go through security. At Tenerife Norte, this point is in the area where airport employees enter to work, near the parking lot. There is the area to pass through security checks with the animal. Once this process is done, the animal is entrusted to the airline to be transported to the aircraft’s hold, where it will remain until reaching the destination airport.
That is the theory that was not followed on flight IB3759 last Sunday. When the Bienert brothers were already on board ready to take off, a flight attendant came with some surprising news: “The cat’s carrier is not approved, therefore cannot travel.” The information surprised Rocío and Álvaro, as they did not understand how hours earlier, when they submitted the animals’ documentation at the check-in counters and the carrier was labelled, no one alerted them to this situation. Faced with this situation, the protagonists of the story suggested bringing the cat into the cabin with them or having it share the carrier with ‘his brother’ Gofio.
Both proposals were rejected by the airline staff, the flight captain came to where Rocío and Álvaro were to inform them they couldn’t share it because the flight “lasted more than two hours” and it is against protocol. Shortly after, they received the news they didn’t want to hear: “The cat has opened the carrier and escaped onto the tarmac.”
The tarmac is the area where the transit luggage is located once it passes the check-in area; the issue is that this area has access to the runway, so the cat could have gone out there. “They told us they saw her by the control tower,” Rocío Bienert told EL DÍA. Wearing a helmet and vest, she searched some airport areas calling for the cat, “who meows when she hears my brother or me” but to no avail. Both ended up travelling to Madrid with only one cat.
“My Brother is Having a Tough Time”
Rocío, who works in communication, says she is finding the situation “difficult” and has missed more empathy from the company, which only reached out to her after the case was posted on her social media. “My brother feels responsible and is having a really hard time,” Rocío summarised.
The airline, on the other hand, explains that they are “doing everything possible to recover her.” According to Iberia Express spokespeople, “The disappearance of Naia was noticed when she was about to be transferred to the plane and that’s why, before takeoff, a customer was asked to remain in Tenerife to assist in the search.”
The SOS FELINE protective association, specialised in cats, has also been asked to join the search, and all airport workers are on alert in case she shows up. In fact, another cat was found during these days that turned out not to be Naia.
The airport has deployed various devices in the baggage area to try to recover the animal during the night when the airport is closed and the absence of noise makes it more likely for Naia to appear. Iberia Express ensures they will search for the cat “for as long as necessary.”
Optimistic Outlook for Naia
After sharing the case on social media, Rocío has received a lot of feedback recounting other experiences of missing animals in airports. “They told us about a cat that was missing for 50 days at the airport surviving on mice.” Rocío remains optimistic and does not lose hope of finding the cat, a life companion, along with Gofio, her brother Álvaro’s.
