Delayed or cancelled flight from Madeira
For anyone whose flight out of Madeira is late, cancelled or overbooked, from an easyJet flight to Gatwick to a Ryanair flight to Dublin, a TAP hop to Lisbon or United's flight to Newark. Here is what the airline owes you while you wait, what you can claim afterwards, and how to claim it.
The short answer
Madeira is part of Portugal and the EU, so every flight from Madeira Airport is covered by EU261, whatever the airline. If you reach your final destination 3 hours or more late, or your flight is cancelled with less than 14 days' notice, you are owed €400 per passenger on flights to the UK, Ireland and the rest of Europe beyond 1,500 km, €250 to Lisbon and Porto, and €600 to New York (€300 if you arrive 3 to 4 hours late), unless the airline proves extraordinary circumstances.
Compensation calculator
What is your flight worth?
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A guide, not legal advice. The amount is per passenger, on top of the meals, drinks and hotel the airline owes you while you wait.
Stuck at Madeira Airport right now?
On a flight to the UK, Ireland or the rest of Europe the airline must give you meals and drinks, and two free calls or emails, once the delay reaches 3 hours (2 hours to Lisbon and Porto, 4 hours to New York), and a hotel with transport to it if you are moved to the next day. At 5 hours you can choose a refund instead of flying. This applies even when the cause is wind or a strike, so if no voucher appears, buy what is reasonable and keep every receipt.
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Getting into Madeira
Compensation for flights from Madeira Airport
For a flight leaving here on any airline that lands 3 hours or more late, unless the cause was extraordinary. Distances are great-circle, as the rules measure them.
| To | Distance | Compensation |
|---|---|---|
| Lisbon LIS | 965 km | €250 |
| Porto OPO | 1,191 km | €250 |
| Valencia VLC | 1,644 km | €400 |
| Shannon SNN | 2,312 km | €400 |
| Bournemouth BOH | 2,352 km | €400 |
| Paris Orly ORY | 2,390 km | €400 |
| Paris Beauvais BVA | 2,431 km | €400 |
| Dublin DUB | 2,452 km | €400 |
| London Gatwick LGW | 2,456 km | €400 |
| London Luton LTN | 2,511 km | €400 |
| London Stansted STN | 2,537 km | €400 |
| Manchester MAN | 2,570 km | €400 |
| Milan Malpensa MXP | 2,609 km | €400 |
| Brussels Charleroi CRL | 2,631 km | €400 |
| Brussels BRU | 2,664 km | €400 |
| Edinburgh EDI | 2,785 km | €400 |
| Düsseldorf Weeze NRN | 2,802 km | €400 |
| Venice Treviso TSF | 2,859 km | €400 |
| New York Newark EWR | 5,103 km | €600 |
What delays flights at Madeira
Wind is the weather that matters here. Madeira's runway is on the island's south-east coast, and NAV Portugal, the air navigation service, publishes wind limits for it that are binding: under the airport's rules, compliance with the operating limitations is mandatory, and any landing or take-off without clearance must be reported to ANAC, the aviation authority. For landing, the limit measured at the touchdown anemometer is a two-minute mean of 15 knots, with gusts up to 25 knots, when the wind blows from the north-west to the north, and 20 knots, gusts up to 30, from the north-east; for take-off the limits run from 20 to 25 knots. If the wind is above the landing limits as a plane reaches the end of its approach, the tower does not clear it to land and instructs it to go around. NAV Portugal also warns of turbulence and downdrafts near both ends of the runway, and the airport requires captains to hold specific experience or simulator training for Madeira before they fly there.
So on a windy day a plane may be unable to land, and it then delays the flight home it was due to operate. Weather that makes a flight unsafe can count as an extraordinary circumstance, so compensation may not be due, but the airline must still look after you. An airline can blame wind that hit the same aircraft earlier in the day only if it shows a direct link to your delay.
Strikes are the other cause. Portugal's labour ministry, through its DGERT office, set minimum services at Funchal for strikes at Portway, one of the airport's handling companies, on 11 December 2025 and 3 June 2026; they protected the first landing and take-off between the mainland and Madeira and between Funchal and Porto Santo. The Commission says strikes by air traffic controllers or airport staff may be extraordinary, and that a strike by the airline's own staff is not; handling companies working for an airline are not addressed directly, so make the claim and let the airline prove its case.
What does pay: a strike by the airline's own pilots or cabin crew, which the EU Court of Justice ruled in 2021 is not extraordinary, and ordinary technical faults.
Your rights while you wait here
The airline owes you care at Madeira whatever caused the delay. Ask at the gate or at your airline's desk for meal vouchers, and for a new flight if you are cancelled. NAV Portugal lists the airport, air traffic services, customs and immigration as open around the clock, but if your flight is put back to the next day the airline owes you a hotel and transport to it. There is no hotel at the terminal; the nearest of ours, Sentido Galomar at Caniço de Baixo, is about 12 minutes away by car. If the airline gives you nothing, buy what is reasonable and claim it back with the receipts.
- When compensation is due
- You arrive 3 hours or more late at your final destination, your flight is cancelled with less than 14 days' notice and no close alternative, or you are bumped against your will
- Madeira to the UK or Ireland
- €400 (all 2,300 to 2,800 km)
- To the rest of Europe, Valencia to Venice
- €400
- To Lisbon or Porto
- €250 (965 and 1,191 km)
- To New York (Newark)
- €600, or €300 if you arrive 3 to 4 hours late
- Unless
- The airline proves extraordinary circumstances that all reasonable measures could not have avoided
- Meals and drinks
- From 2 hours on flights up to 1,500 km; from 3 hours on longer flights within the EU and other flights of 1,500 to 3,500 km; from 4 hours on longer flights
- Calls or emails
- Two, free, at the same point
- Hotel and transport to it
- When the new departure is the next day or later
- Refund instead of flying
- Your choice once the delay reaches 5 hours
- Cancelled
- Your choice of a refund or a new flight, plus meals and, if needed, a hotel
- In wind or a strike
- All of the above still applies
Connecting through Lisbon or Porto
On one booking, the delay is measured where you finally land, and the distance is from where your journey started to your final destination, not the legs added up. So a Madeira to Lisbon to London booking that lands at Heathrow 3 hours late is a €400 claim, even if the late leg was the short hop to Lisbon. Separate bookings are separate flights.
How to claim
Claiming yourself costs nothing. Send the claim to the airline that operated the flight, using its own claim form, with your booking reference and the times you actually arrived. If it says no, or has not replied within six weeks, complain to ANAC, Portugal's civil aviation authority, free of charge, within 3 years of the flight; the official gov.pt page explains how.
Flying home to the UK on a UK or EU airline, your flight is also covered by the UK rules, and if you go to court in England, Wales or Northern Ireland the limit is 6 years (5 in Scotland). You can be paid only once for the same disruption, so claim under the EU rules that apply to a flight from Portugal.
Or hand it to AirHelp, which works on a no win, no fee basis: if it wins, it keeps 35% of the compensation including VAT, plus a further 15% if it has to go to court; if it does not win, you pay nothing. Keep your booking reference and boarding pass, screenshots of the delay or cancellation messages, the reason the airline gave you, and receipts for anything you bought while you waited.
New EU rules, Regulation (EU) 2026/2202, apply from 23 October 2027; for any flight before then, today's rules on this page apply.
Delayed or cancelled? Get what you are owed
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Good questions about Madeira Airport
How much compensation for a delayed flight from Madeira?
€400 per passenger on flights to the UK, Ireland and the rest of Europe beyond 1,500 km, €250 to Lisbon and Porto, and €600 to New York (€300 at 3 to 4 hours late), if you arrive 3 hours or more late, unless the airline proves extraordinary circumstances.
My easyJet flight from Madeira to Gatwick was 4 hours late. What am I owed?
Madeira to Gatwick is 2,456 km, so you are owed €400 each unless the airline proves extraordinary circumstances. The flight is also covered by the UK rules, but you can only be paid once.
Is a flight from Madeira to Lisbon €250 or €400?
€250: Lisbon is 965 km from Madeira and Porto 1,191 km, both under the 1,500 km line. Valencia, at 1,644 km, is over it, so that flight pays €400.
Is wind at Madeira an extraordinary circumstance?
It can be, case by case: weather that makes a flight unsafe is a recognised extraordinary circumstance, and Madeira's wind limits are mandatory, so the airline may not owe compensation. It still owes you meals, drinks and a hotel if you are moved to the next day.
My flight could not land at Madeira because of the wind. What am I owed?
Care, always: meals and drinks while you wait, a hotel if you are moved to the next day, and a refund or a new flight if it is cancelled. Compensation depends on whether the airline can show the wind was the cause and that it took all reasonable measures.
What am I entitled to if my flight from Madeira is cancelled?
Your choice of a refund or a new flight, meals while you wait and a hotel if needed, and compensation by distance unless you were told 14 days or more ahead, were offered a close alternative, or the airline proves extraordinary circumstances.
How long do I have to claim for a flight from Madeira?
You can complain to ANAC, Portugal's aviation authority, within 3 years of the flight, after claiming from the airline first. In the English courts the limit is 6 years (5 in Scotland).
If you claim through our AirHelp links we may earn a commission. It never changes what we write.