TAP Air Portugal Delayed or Cancelled? Claim Up to €600 Under EU261
TAP Air Portugal is Portugal's national carrier, connecting Lisbon and Porto to destinations across Europe, North America, and Brazil. All TAP flights departing from EU airports — and all TAP-operated flights arriving in the EU — are subject to EU Regulation 261/2004.
⚠️ Portugal: 1-year claim deadline — act NOW
Under Portuguese law (Decreto-Lei n.º 10/2015), EU261 claims against TAP must be filed within 1 year of the flight date. This is one of the shortest statute of limitations in the EU. If your TAP disruption was more than 12 months ago, you may have lost the right to claim under Portuguese jurisdiction — but you may still have options depending on your departure country.
Long-haul Brazil routes: up to €600 per person
TAP operates major routes between Lisbon and São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Fortaleza, Recife, Salvador, and other Brazilian cities. A 4-hour delay on any of these routes entitles each passenger to €600 in EU261 compensation — potentially thousands of euros for a family.
Am I eligible?
Compensation amounts
| Flight distance | Example routes | Compensation |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1,500 km | Lisbon–Madrid, Porto–Paris | €250 |
| 1,500–3,500 km | Lisbon–London, Lisbon–Casablanca | €400 |
| Over 3,500 km (4h+ delay) | Lisbon–São Paulo, Lisbon–New York | €600 |
How to claim TAP EU261 compensation
- 1
Submit via TAP's customer relations portal
File your EU261 claim through TAP's online form. Include your booking reference (PNR), flight number, and actual arrival time. TAP should respond within 14 days.
TAP claims portal → - 2
Escalate to ANAC (Portugal)
ANAC — Autoridade Nacional de Aviação Civil — is Portugal's aviation authority. If TAP denies your claim or fails to respond, file a complaint with ANAC. Available in Portuguese and English.
ANAC Portugal → - 3
Use a no-win no-fee claims service
Given the 1-year deadline and TAP's complex transatlantic network, using AirHelp is strongly recommended. They know TAP's delay patterns and have experience with both European and Brazil route claims.
Check via AirHelp →
TAP Air Portugal denial tactics to watch for
- →Citing "extraordinary circumstances" for technical delays — aircraft technical issues are not extraordinary under EU261
- →Overbooking on transatlantic routes — TAP regularly overbooks Lisbon–Brazil flights; denied boarding entitles you to €600 plus re-routing
- →Claiming the delay was on arrival, not departure — EU261 measures delay at the destination, not the origin
- →Brazil passengers claiming — if you departed from a Brazilian airport, Brazilian consumer law (not EU261) applies instead
- →Statute of limitations confusion — if you departed from Spain, France, or another EU country, that country's SOL applies (not Portugal's 1 year)
📍 Jurisdiction note
If your TAP flight departed from Spain, France, or another EU country — that country's SOL applies, not Portugal's 1-year rule. Spain = 1 year, France = 5 years, Germany = 3 years. Your departure airport determines which national authority handles your complaint.
Scan your inbox for missed TAP claims — before the 1-year deadline
SubRadar scans your Gmail or Outlook for TAP Air Portugal booking emails and alerts you to EU261 claims at risk of expiring under Portugal's 1-year limit.
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