Indemnisation vol retardé TAP Air Portugal

TAP delays: what is specific

Most TAP itineraries connect through Lisbon on a single booking, so the delay that counts is the one at your final destination, not at Lisbon (Folkerts). Missing a Lisbon connection because the first sector was late and arriving in São Paulo or New York three hours or more behind schedule is a €600 case even though each sector on its own was short.

TAP’s long-haul aircraft turn around in Lisbon; a late arrival from Brazil delays the evening departures to Europe. That knock-on delay is compensable unless TAP proves the original cause was extraordinary. Ask for the cause on the first sector, not just yours.

Expect TAP to cite Lisbon airport capacity or Portuguese ATC. Ask which restriction applied, at what time, and whether other TAP departures operated.

How the 3 hours are measured on TAP Air Portugal flights

The delay that counts is the arrival delay at your final destination, measured when at least one aircraft door opens — not the departure delay, the touchdown time or the block-on time. Compare it with the scheduled arrival on your booking. A TAP Air Portugal flight that leaves 3 hours 30 late but makes up time to arrive 2 hours 50 late is not compensable; one that leaves on time and arrives 3 hours late is.

How much TAP Air Portugal owes for a delay

Under EU261 the amount depends only on the great-circle distance of the flight (or of the whole journey on a single booking), never on the ticket price: €250, €400 or €600 per passenger. On flights over 3,500 km TAP Air Portugal may halve the amount (€300 instead of €600) when the arrival delay is between 3 and 4 hours; from 4 hours the full amount applies. The table above shows the amounts on TAP Air Portugal’s typical routes.

Care while you wait

From 2 hours of delay (short flights), 3 hours (medium) or 4 hours (long) TAP Air Portugal must offer meals and refreshments in proportion to the wait, two phone calls or e-mails, and a hotel with transport if you are kept overnight. If it does not, keep receipts for reasonable expenses and claim them separately — they come on top of the fixed compensation. After 5 hours you may also abandon the trip and claim a full refund of the unused ticket.

What TAP Air Portugal may argue

Only extraordinary circumstances exempt TAP Air Portugal from paying: severe weather, air-traffic-control restrictions or strikes, security incidents, bird strikes, external strikes. Technical faults, crew shortages, late inbound aircraft from an earlier rotation and TAP Air Portugal’s own staff strikes are not extraordinary. The burden of proof is on TAP Air Portugal: ask for the precise cause of your flight’s delay and the measures it took, and treat a bare “operational reasons” as no answer.

How to claim a delay from TAP Air Portugal

1. Note the actual arrival time (arrivals board, flight-tracker screenshot, TAP Air Portugal’s own notification).
2. Ask TAP Air Portugal in writing for the reason for the delay.
3. Submit the claim through TAP Air Portugal’s official channel (https://www.flytap.com/en-pt/customer-support), quoting the booking reference, the flight, the date, the arrival delay and the amount per passenger.
4. If TAP Air Portugal refuses or does not reply within 8 weeks, escalate to ANAC (Portugal NEB); a court claim remains available within the limitation period of the departure country.