TAP cancelled flight: refund and compensation
Short answer: When TAP Air Portugal cancels your flight, two separate rights arise under EU Regulation 261/2004. First, you choose between a full refund and re-routing to your destination (Article 8). Second, you may be owed fixed compensation of EUR 250, EUR 400 or EUR 600 per passenger (Article 7) — unless TAP gave you at least 14 days' notice or proves extraordinary circumstances. These are different claims, and you can pursue both at once. This guide sits inside our wider TAP Air Portugal compensation series.
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Refund or re-routing: your Article 8 choice
A cancellation gives you a choice under Article 8 — yours, not TAP's. You can ask for:
- a full refund of the unused ticket (and, on a multi-leg trip, a return to your first departure point if the journey no longer serves its purpose);
- re-routing to your final destination at the earliest opportunity; or
- re-routing on a later date that suits you, subject to seat availability.
If you choose re-routing, TAP must get you to your destination under comparable conditions — a later TAP service, a Star Alliance partner, or another carrier. Decide on your real destination and timing, not just the first option in the app. A voucher is not the same as a cash refund: you are entitled to your money back in the original form of payment. See our guide on taking a voucher instead of a refund.
The right to care while you wait
Separately, Article 9 gives you a right to assistance while you wait — meals, two calls or emails, and a hotel plus transfers overnight, with thresholds of 2, 3 and 4 hours by distance. This applies even when the cancellation was extraordinary: under C-12/11 (McDonagh), care is owed even during events such as the 2010 ash cloud, with no financial ceiling.
Compensation on top: EUR 250 to EUR 600
Compensation under Article 7 is a fixed sum unrelated to the ticket price. It compensates the inconvenience of a short-notice cancellation, so even a cheap fare can be worth EUR 600.
| Distance | Compensation | Typical TAP route |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 1,500 km | EUR 250 | Lisbon–Madrid, Porto–Paris, Lisbon–Funchal |
| 1,500–3,500 km (and intra-EU over 1,500 km) | EUR 400 | Lisbon–Ponta Delgada, Lisbon–Berlin, Porto–Rome |
| Over 3,500 km (non-EU) | EUR 600 | Lisbon–São Paulo, Lisbon–Newark, Lisbon–Luanda |
TAP's long-haul network to Brazil (São Paulo, Rio), the US (Newark, JFK, Miami), Canada (Montreal, Toronto) and Africa (Luanda, Maputo, Cape Verde) sits squarely in the EUR 600 band. If your cancelled flight was one of these, see our EUR 600 TAP claim guide.
On a connecting itinerary booked as one reservation, what matters is the arrival delay at your final destination and the distance to it, not the intermediate stop. The Court confirmed this in C-11/11 (Folkerts): if a cancelled Lisbon feeder makes you miss a connection and you reach São Paulo the next day, the claim is measured against São Paulo. If TAP re-routes you and you still arrive late but within set limits, compensation can be halved under Article 7(2) — EUR 300 rather than EUR 600 on a long-haul route.
The 14-day notice rule
Compensation is not automatic — it depends on when TAP told you and what replacement it offered:
| Notice from TAP | Compensation usually due? |
|---|---|
| 14 days or more before departure | No |
| 7 to 13 days before | No, if re-routing departs no more than 2 hours early and arrives less than 4 hours late |
| Less than 7 days before | No, if re-routing departs no more than 1 hour early and arrives less than 2 hours late |
If TAP cancels at the airport, or the alternative falls outside those windows, the claim is usually strong. Keep the cancellation email or SMS: the burden is on the airline to prove it gave adequate notice.
Extraordinary circumstances — and TAP strikes
TAP can escape the compensation (but never the refund or the care) only by proving extraordinary circumstances that all reasonable measures could not have avoided. Weather, air-traffic-control restrictions and genuine security incidents can qualify. Routine technical faults generally do not: in C-549/07 (Wallentin-Hermann) and C-257/14 (van der Lans), the Court treated ordinary mechanical failures as part of normal operations.
Strikes matter for TAP, which regularly faces action by its SPAC pilots and SNPVAC cabin crew. A strike by the airline's own staff is not an extraordinary circumstance — the Court said so in C-28/20 (Airhelp v SAS) — so a cancellation caused by a TAP crew walkout is usually still compensable. The operating carrier is the one that pays: under C-532/17 (Wirth), if a codeshare partner or TAP Express flew the aircraft, liability follows that carrier. Check the "operated by" line on your booking.
Departures from the UK
TAP is an EU carrier, so EU261 covers all TAP flights leaving an EU airport and TAP flights arriving in the EU from a third country. But if your cancelled flight departed a UK airport, UK261 applies instead, with compensation of GBP 220, GBP 350 or GBP 520 and the same 14-day notice logic. Our UK261 versus EU261 guide explains which rules govern your trip.
How ClaimWinger helps
ClaimWinger runs TAP cancellation cases on a no-win, no-fee basis: no upfront cost, and we charge a commission only if we recover money for you. We check the operating carrier, the cause TAP gave, the distance to your final destination and your evidence, then handle the claim. Start with our step-by-step claim guide, or begin a cancelled-flight claim now. If your flight was delayed rather than cancelled, open a delayed-flight claim instead, and check the amount with our compensation calculator.
FAQ — Frequently asked questions
Can I get both a refund and compensation from TAP?
Yes. The refund (or re-routing) under Article 8 and the fixed compensation under Article 7 are separate rights. Getting your ticket price back does not cancel your right to EUR 250–600.
TAP offered me a voucher instead of a refund. Do I have to accept?
No. After a cancellation you are entitled to your money back in the original form of payment. A voucher is optional and may weaken your position, so consider it carefully.
My TAP connection was cancelled and I arrived a day late. How is compensation measured?
By the delay in reaching your final destination and the distance to it, following C-11/11 (Folkerts) — provided the flights were on one booking. A missed São Paulo or Newark connection typically falls in the EUR 600 band.
TAP blamed a strike. Am I still owed compensation?
Probably, if it was TAP's own pilots or cabin crew. Under C-28/20 (Airhelp v SAS), a strike by the airline's own staff is not an extraordinary circumstance. Third-party action, such as an air-traffic-control strike, is judged differently.
How long do I have to claim against TAP?
Time limits vary by jurisdiction — for example the country where you bring the case, such as Portugal. There is no single universal deadline, so do not delay. A separate EU reform proposing a 9-month claim window and a 30-day airline response time is only a proposal, not yet in force.
Sources
This guide reflects the legal position in 2026. The EU261 reform — including proposals to change the delay thresholds, alter the compensation bands, and add a 9-month claim window and a 30-day airline response time — is a proposal and not yet in force. The binding rules remain the 3-hour delay threshold and compensation of EUR 250, EUR 400 and EUR 600. This is general information, not legal advice.