Why are Argentine fighter jets on Gran Canaria?

Gando is the usual staging stop for ferry flights between Europe and South America, before the Atlantic leg to Natal. The first six F-16s also stopped there in December 2025 (Infodefensa).

Is traffic at Gran Canaria airport affected?

Nothing is published on that. We found neither a statement from Aena or ENAIRE nor a NOTAM on civil traffic.

Is Tropical Storm Gonzalo the cause of the delay?

Open. On 26 September Gonzalo lay near the route off Cape Verde, but the NHC said it was already weakening. The Argentine reports name no storm; the attribution comes from a single website.

How many F-16s will Argentina have after this delivery?

Twelve of the 24 ordered. The first six arrived in December 2025; the remaining twelve are due in 2027 and 2028, according to Infodefensa.

What does the purchase cost, and in which currency?

301.2 million US dollars for 24 aircraft plus one training airframe, in five interest-free annual instalments (Chequeado). Infobae estimates the full programme at 900 million to 1 billion US dollars — US dollars, not euros.

Six Argentine F-16s Grounded at Gando by Weather

Six Argentine F-16s Are Waiting at Gando: Atlantic Weather Has Delayed the Jump to South America

Six fighter aircraft that should long since have reached Argentina have stood for days on the military side of Gran Canaria airport. The F-16s, bought from Danish stock, left Skrydstrup air base on 22 September and reached Gando air base near Telde by way of Zaragoza. The Atlantic leg was planned for 26 September. The Argentine broadcasters Cadena 3 and LT10 report that the aircraft remain at Gando, citing "meteorological and operational conditions".

27 September 2026 · By Lucía Medina Reyes · 4 min · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief

Six jets, four days behind

This transfer is the second of four part-deliveries. On 23 September Infodefensa listed four single-seat F-16AM and two two-seat F-16BM; they left Skrydstrup on 22 September and, according to Perfil, were inspected at Zaragoza. When they touched down at Gando is not published — Zona Militar reported the arrival in the Canaries on 22 September, Puntal the onward leg on 23 September. What is certain: they were there on 23 September and are still there on 27 September.

One airport, two operators: what Gando is

Gando is not a remote military strip but the other half of the airport every holidaymaker knows. ENAIRE's aeronautical information publication lists two administrations on the same site: Aena for the civil part, the Ejército del Aire y del Espacio for the military part, at Base Aérea de Gando in Telde. The resident unit is Ala 46, described by the Ejército del Aire as the archipelago's "first line of defence". Ferry flights between Europe and South America stopping here is routine: the first six Argentine F-16s also paused at Gando in December 2025 — the stay let crews rest and allowed a technical review of the ferry flight parameters, Infodefensa reported on 4 December 2025.

The weather, actually checked

The Argentine reports name no storm. According to the aggregator Rio Times, a Brazilian military site raised Tropical Storm Gonzalo near Cape Verde as a possible cause. The storm did exist: on 26 September at 03:00 UTC the US National Hurricane Center placed Gonzalo about 50 kilometres north-east of Sal, with peak winds of 72 kilometres per hour — under the heading "Gonzalo weakens as it continues northward" and with the note that the system could dissipate later that day. Geographically that matters, because the leg from the Canaries to Natal passes south-west of Cape Verde. It does not make the attribution established: it rests on a single website, and on 27 September the NHC listed only Tropical Depression Fay in the Atlantic, far to the north-west and not on the route.

301.2 million dollars — and a programme without a fixed price

The Argentine fact-checking outlet Chequeado put the contract of 26 March 2024 at 301.2 million US dollars for 24 operational aircraft and one airframe for ground training, payable in five interest-free annual instalments, plus 44.694 billion pesos for works at Río Cuarto and Tandil up to 2027 and 40 million US dollars in US State Department military financing from April 2024. For the programme as a whole, Infobae on 16 July 2026 gives 900 million to 1 billion US dollars; La Nación on 16 August 2026 gave a ceiling of 900 million US dollars for modernisation and armament alone. Weapons and electronics costs fall under the military secrecy of Decree 370/24, according to Chequeado. All these sums are US dollars, not euros.

Falklands — and what Gran Canaria has not reported

In Argentina the purchase is read politically. On 24 September 2026 Perfil quoted Defence Minister Carlos Alberto Presti saying the F-16 weapons system demonstrates "the commitment of the national state" to the armed forces and to territorial integrity. A defence expert quoted by Chequeado on 8 December 2025 said the opposite of a capability gain for the islands: the aircraft cannot fly there with a weapons load and return, because a suitable tanker is lacking. On the British side no government statement on this transfer is published; cita.news takes no position on the sovereignty question. On the island itself the episode is almost invisible: of the Canary media, our searches found only La Gaceta de Canarias reporting the stopover, on 25 September; at Canarias7, La Provincia, eldiario.es/Canarias Ahora, Atlántico Hoy and RTVC we found none.