AirAdvisor wins Portuguese appeals court ruling after compensation claim was rejected

Joanna Teljeur

By:  Joanna Teljeur

2 minutes read

Last Updated:  May 27, 2026

Reviewed by:  Anton Radchenko

A flight compensation claim worth €250 was rejected by a Lisbon court earlier this year, not on its merits, but because the court ruled it should be heard somewhere else entirely. That somewhere else was the Azores, approximately 1,400 kilometres away.

The passenger had flown with SATA Azores Airlines from Lisbon to Ponta Delgada and arrived more than four hours late. When they filed a claim for €250 in compensation, the Lisbon Local Civil Court refused to hear it. The court argued that since both the passenger and the airline were based in Ponta Delgada, that is where the case belonged, and it charged the passenger €51 in court costs simply for raising the point.

Why that decision blocked access to justice

For passengers based on the Portuguese mainland or travelling internationally, being directed to a court in the Azores to recover €250 is not a minor inconvenience. A return flight to Ponta Delgada could cost more than the claim itself, which means the court had effectively made pursuing it financially pointless.

AirAdvisor recognised that this was not an isolated problem.

The same procedural argument had been used in multiple similar cases, and left unchallenged, it would continue to block passengers from pursuing claims they were legally entitled to make. Cristiana Toscano, AirAdvisor's litigation counsel in Portugal, challenged the decision under Article 105 of the Portuguese Civil Procedure Code.

Her case rested on Article 71(1), which gives passengers the right to file their claim at the airport where the airline was scheduled to carry out its side of the agreement. The airline's promise was to depart from Lisbon on time. That is where the obligation existed, and it is therefore where the passenger had always been entitled to bring their claim.

On 11 May 2026, the Lisbon Court of Appeal agreed, overturning the first-instance decision, confirming that the Lisbon court had the authority to hear the case, and imposing no costs.

Why this matters beyond one case

This is not just a win for one passenger. It is a ruling that matters for anyone who has been, or might be, blocked by the same argument on a Lisbon-departing route.

Because this was won at appeal rather than first instance, it carries more legal weight and is more likely to be followed by other courts. It also corrects a reading of Portuguese procedural law that would have continued to make it financially irrational for mainland and international passengers to pursue compensation they were clearly entitled to.

Airlines and procedural technicalities should not be able to make justice too expensive to access, says Cristiana Toscano. The appeals court corrected a decision that was blocking passengers from rights they were clearly owed. That is exactly the kind of case we exist to fight.

What this means for passengers

If you have flown on a route departing from Lisbon and experienced a significant delay or cancellation, this ruling strengthens the argument that you can bring your compensation claim before a Lisbon court, regardless of where your airline is based. It does not guarantee that outcome in every case, but it establishes a precedent that AirAdvisor's legal team will cite on behalf of any passenger facing the same barrier.

AirAdvisor has been handling passenger rights claims in Portugal since 2017You can check whether you are eligible to claim in under 1-3 minutes.Check eligibility

Author:

Joanna Teljeur

Job/Position: Senior Editor & Content Lead

Joanna Teljeur is a senior editor and writer with 15+ years of experience in editorial leadership, journalism, and content development, specialising in consumer rights, aviation law, and public-interest reporting. Her work focuses on transforming complex regulatory and legal topics into clear, accurate, and accessible content for international audiences.

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