How much compensation for a delayed TAP Air Portugal flight?
£220 or £350 each, if you land 3 hours or more late
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FreePick your airports and the date you flew. We'll list every flight on that route that day.
A few quick questions. No personal details needed.
TAP Air Portugal is better than most of the 81 airlines flying at UK airports for 3-hour delays.
- Flights a year
- 7,636
- Landed on time
- 64.5%
- Land 3 hours or more late
- 15 a year
Last 12 months, CAA data
What you're owed
The exact figure depends on how far you were flying, and the checker works it out from your route. About 15 TAP Air Portugal flights a year cross that line.
The short answer
Getting compensation from TAP Air Portugal
If your TAP Air Portugal flight landed 3 hours or more late, or was cancelled with less than 2 weeks' notice, everyone on the booking may be owed £350 each from the UK to Lisbon, or about £345 each (€400) from Lisbon, when the cause was within the airline's control. TAP is a Portuguese airline, so flights into the UK are covered as well as flights out.
Is my flight home from Lisbon or Porto covered?
Yes. TAP is a Portuguese airline, so a late flight into the UK is covered as well as the flight out. Lisbon to London or Manchester is 1,500 to 3,500 km and pays about £345 each (€400), while Porto to Gatwick is under 1,500 km and pays about £215 each (€250).
How much is a late TAP flight from the UK worth?
Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester to Lisbon are all between 1,500 and 3,500 km, so a delay of 3 hours or more pays £350 each. Gatwick to Porto is under 1,500 km and pays £220 each.
What if I missed my connection in Lisbon?
If both flights were on one booking, what counts is how late you reached your final destination. Land 3 hours or more late there and the amount is set by the full distance of the journey, even if the first flight was only a little late. On a long route such as one to Brazil, 4 hours or more late pays £520 each and 3 to 4 hours pays half, £260 each.
Does a cancelled TAP Air Portugal flight count?
Yes, if you were told less than 2 weeks before the flight. You are owed the same as a long delay unless TAP offered a replacement close to your original times, or the cause was outside its control. You can also choose a full refund instead of a new flight.
What it pays
Pick the airport you flew from
TAP Air Portugal flies from 3 of the UK airports we cover, so there is no single distance and no single figure. Open the one you flew from to see its busiest routes priced.
Watch my flight
Flying soon? We'll watch your flight
If it lands 3 hours or more late we email you what you're owed.
How bad is it
Does TAP Air Portugal get delayed a lot?
No, less than most. It's better than most of the 81 airlines flying at UK airports, with about 1 flight in 500 landing 3 hours or more late (0.2%).
That works out at about 15 flights a year crossing the 3-hour line, which is the point the airline has to pay.
When is it worst?
September 2025, when TAP Air Portugal flights ran an average of 21.2 minutes late.
See all the numbers for TAP Air Portugal
In the last 12 months, TAP Air Portugal operated 7,636 flights at UK airports, and 0.2% were 3 hours or more late, the threshold where £220 or £350 each becomes payable.
Flights are landing on time more often than last year: 64.5% ran on time against 53.0% in the twelve months before, and the average delay fell from 23.5 to 17.1 minutes.
| TAP Air Portugal, last 12 months | Figure | vs year before |
|---|---|---|
| Flights at UK airports | 7,636 | was 7,613 |
| Ran on time (within 15 min) | 64.5% | ▲ was 53.0% |
| Average delay | 17.1 min | ▼ was 23.5 min |
| 3 hours or more late (the line where they pay) | 0.2% | - |
| Cancelled | 0.5% | - |
| Flights 3 hours or more late (a year) | 15 flights/year | - |
The CAA's figures combine arrivals and departures, so this covers both directions of travel.
TAP Air Portugal's delays, month by month
Worst month: September 2025, averaging 21.2 minutes.
Where it flies
TAP Air Portugal at each UK airport
| Airport | Flights | Avg delay | 3 hours or more late | Landed on time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heathrow | 4,291 | 15.7 min | 0.2% | 66.7% |
| Gatwick | 2,389 | 15.5 min | 0.1% | 67.9% |
| Manchester | 950 | 27.6 min | 0.7% | 46.0% |
How to claim
Claiming from TAP Air Portugal
TAP Air Portugal does not pay compensation automatically. Nothing happens until someone claims, and plenty of first claims come back refused when the airline blames something outside its control.
The rules do not change with the airline. What decides your claim is where the flight took off and how late it landed, not whose aircraft it was.
Checked against TAP Air Portugal's own site on 12 August 2026.
Your rights
What the rules turn on
Where the flight leaves from matters most. Anything leaving a UK airport is covered by the UK rules whoever operates it, and anything leaving the EU by the EU's. A flight into the UK or the EU is covered too when a UK or EU airline flies it. A delay of 3 hours or more on arrival pays £220 or £350 each on the distances TAP Air Portugal flies, when the cause was within the airline's control, which covers technical faults, crew shortages and the knock-on from a late inbound aircraft. It pays nothing when the cause was genuinely extraordinary, though airlines stretch that word further than the case law supports, so a refusal on those grounds is worth testing rather than accepting.
Other airlines
Source: UK Civil Aviation Authority punctuality statistics, August 2025 to July 2026. Analysis by CheckFlightCompensation; the CAA is credited as the data source as its publication conditions require. Figures cover the 25 largest UK airports. Methodology and limitations.