TAP Air Portugal flight delay compensation
TAP Air Portugal owes €250, €400 or €600 per passenger for an arrival at least three hours late, a cancellation notified within fourteen days, or denied boarding. TAP may halve the figure only when it re-routed you within the limits Article 7(2) sets out.
Work out what TAP Air Portugal owes you →What TAP Air Portugal owes, by distance
| Distance of the flight | Compensation per passenger |
|---|---|
| Under 1,500 km | €250 |
| 1,500–3,500 km, or any flight within the EU over 1,500 km | €400 |
| Over 3,500 km between the EU and a non-EU airport | €600 |
When it applies: Arrival 3+ hours late, cancellation notified less than 14 days ahead, or denied boarding. The figures come from EU Regulation 261/2004 and are per passenger, including children on their own ticket.
How to claim, in four steps
- Confirm the amount. Put the route, the date and the length of the delay into the calculator. It applies every statute that covers the flight and shows which one pays most.
- Write the demand. The calculator produces a dated letter citing EU Regulation 261/2004 by article, addressed to TAP Air Portugal S.A.. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
- Send it through the official route. Submit it through TAP Air Portugal's own form below, and keep a copy. A claim that exists only in a phone call cannot be proved later.
- Escalate if the answer is a refusal or silence. The calculator writes a chaser and then an escalation letter naming the national enforcement body for the departure country.
Where to send it — TAP Air Portugal's own claim pages
TAP's own pages quote each band as a range — €125–250, €200–400, €300–600 — because the lower figure is the halved amount under Article 7(2). That reduction applies only where TAP re-routed you inside the windows the Article sets; otherwise the full sum is due. TAP asks for bank details to pay.
The refusals TAP Air Portugal sends, and what answers them
“Technical fault / unexpected maintenance issue”
A technical problem inherent in the normal exercise of the carrier's activity is not an extraordinary circumstance. The Court of Justice settled this in Wallentin-Hermann v Alitalia (C-549/07) and confirmed it in van der Lans v KLM (C-257/14), where a component failing before its expected life was still held to be part of ordinary operations. Ask the airline to identify the defect and explain why it falls outside that case law.
“Strike” (when the strikers are the airline's own staff)
A strike by the carrier's own crew is part of running an airline. In Krüsemann v TUIfly (C-195/17) a wildcat sickout following a restructuring announcement was held not extraordinary. A strike by external parties — air traffic control, airport security — is different and can excuse the airline. Make it say which kind it was.
“Knock-on delay from the previous rotation”
A late inbound aircraft is not in itself extraordinary. If the original cause was an ordinary technical fault, the excuse fails with it; if it was genuinely extraordinary, the airline still has to show it could not have limited the knock-on by reasonable measures — Pešková and Peška (C-315/15).
A travel voucher instead of money
Article 7(3) allows payment in vouchers only with your signed agreement. You may refuse and insist on a bank transfer, and you keep the right to do so after you have already been offered a voucher. A voucher is worth less than cash and usually expires.
Silence
Silence is not a defence. Send a second letter that sets a deadline, states that you will escalate, and names the national enforcement body for the departure country. Stage 3 of the calculator writes both the chaser and the escalation letter.
How long you have
Limitation periods are national, not European: roughly 2 years in Germany and the Netherlands, 3 in Spain and France, 5 in Poland, 6 in Ireland. Claim early anyway — airlines discard operational records long before the deadline.
Questions
How much does TAP Air Portugal pay for a delayed flight?
€250 for under 1,500 km, €400 for 1,500–3,500 km, or any flight within the EU over 1,500 km, €600 for over 3,500 km between the EU and a non-EU airport under EU Regulation 261/2004. The band is set by the distance of the flight, not by what the ticket cost.
Does TAP Air Portugal have to pay if the delay was a technical fault?
A technical problem inherent in the normal exercise of the carrier's activity is not an extraordinary circumstance. The Court of Justice settled this in Wallentin-Hermann v Alitalia (C-549/07) and confirmed it in van der Lans v KLM (C-257/14), where a component failing before its expected life was still held to be part of ordinary operations. Ask the airline to identify the defect and explain why it falls outside that case law.
Do I have to accept a voucher?
No. Article 7(3) permits payment in vouchers only with your signed agreement, so you can decline one and ask for a bank transfer instead.
How long do I have to claim?
Limitation periods are national, not European: roughly 2 years in Germany and the Netherlands, 3 in Spain and France, 5 in Poland, 6 in Ireland. Claim early anyway — airlines discard operational records long before the deadline.
Open the calculator with TAP Air Portugal selected →
Claiming against a different airline
- Ryanair flight delay compensation — EU Regulation 261/2004
- Wizz Air flight delay compensation — EU Regulation 261/2004
- easyJet flight delay compensation — UK Regulation 261 (retained EU law)
- Lufthansa flight delay compensation — EU Regulation 261/2004
- British Airways flight delay compensation — UK Regulation 261 (retained EU law)
- Air France flight delay compensation — EU Regulation 261/2004
- KLM flight delay compensation — EU Regulation 261/2004
- El Al flight delay compensation — Aviation Services Law (Compensation and Assistance), 5772-2012
- Turkish Airlines flight delay compensation — SHY-Passenger (Turkish civil aviation passenger rights regulation)
- Iberia flight delay compensation — EU Regulation 261/2004
- Vueling flight delay compensation — EU Regulation 261/2004
- Aer Lingus flight delay compensation — EU Regulation 261/2004
- ITA Airways flight delay compensation — EU Regulation 261/2004
- Eurowings flight delay compensation — EU Regulation 261/2004