Airport delays disclosed in Portugal
No holds barred, let's dive into the chaos that's been unfolding at Portuguese airports in Q1 2025, as reported by Jornal Económico. The air passenger compensation specialists at AirHelp dropped a report on air traffic and airport performance, and boy, does it paint a grizzly picture!
More than six million passengers traversed the skies from Portuguese airports in the first three months of the year, with a whopping 70% of those journeys happening on schedule. Yet, gloom looms large, as a massive two million passengers encountered some turbulence along their travel path. Over half a million of those unfortunate souls faced delays exceeding the infamous three-hour mark, making them eligible for some cold, hard cash in compensation.
Compared to the abysmal numbers from the previous year, there was a 2% decrease in the number of flights and a 4% dip in passengers. But guess what didn't decrease? The number of disruptions! On the contrary, they skyrocketed by a troubling 13%! That's a near 50% increase in the number of passengers eligible for compensation. Yikes!
TAP Portugal, that ever-reliable, sometimes unpredictable, airline, took the lead, transporting a whopping two million passengers. However, with great power comes great responsibility, and TAP seemed to struggle to meet the mark as the majority of passengers (around 38%) faced some form of delay, resulting in more than 41 thousand passengers scoring a payday.
Ryanair, the budget airline, trailed closely behind, ferrying over a million passengers, but they fared a bit better, with only 26% of flights causing frustration for its passengers, landing just over seven thousand passengers eligible for compensation.
As for the airports, Faro Airport sailed through Q1 with 84.5% of flights performing like a well-oiled machine. Porto Airport followed suit, clocking in at 80%, resulting in a smooth ride for 80.2% of passengers. Unfortunately, Lisbon Airport continued its reign as the runway rogue, with a hefty 40% of flights encountering delays or cancellations, leaving 39.5% of passengers in the lurch.
Now, here's where things start to get messy. The increase in flight disruptions can be traced back to several factors that, when combined, formed a perfect storm of chaos. Let's repaint the picture with a few more details. The strike by pilots at Portugália, a subsidiary of TAP Air Portugal, managed to wreak havoc on air traffic during Q1. Easter timing also played a tricky role, shifting to April and altering passenger travel patterns. Increased competition and TAP's restructuring efforts added pressure, constraining their ability to rise to the occasion. Adverse weather events and capacity constraints at airports and in European airspace didn't help matters, and power outages in parts of the Iberian Peninsula cherry-on-topped the disastrous day for air travel in Portugal.
So there you have it, folks. Bottom line: don't expect a smooth flight in Portugal unless you've got an iron stomach for turbulence!
- The news from Jornal Econόmico revealed a turbulent start to air travel in Portugal during Q1 2025, with a significant increase in flight disruptions.
- Over half a million passengers experienced delays exceeding three hours, making them eligible for air passenger compensation.
- TAP Portugal, the reliable but sometimes unpredictable airline, led the passengers count with two million, but struggled to meet the schedule, resulting in more than 41 thousand passengers receiving compensation.
- Faro Airport and Porto Airport had a relatively smooth performance, but Lisbon Airport continued to struggle, with 40% of flights encountering delays or cancellations.
