If your flight to or from Madeira is cancelled or badly delayed, the airline always owes you a way to get there (or your money back) and meals and a hotel while you wait. Cash compensation of €250 to €600 per person is a separate thing: you get it only when you arrive three hours or more late for a reason within the airline’s control. Wind at Funchal is weather, so most wind-related disruption pays nothing, but a lot of other delays do.
In short
- Every flight leaving Funchal or Porto Santo is covered, on any airline.
- On the day: food after two or three hours, a hotel if you are stuck overnight, and a new flight or a refund.
- Afterwards: €250 for Lisbon or Porto, €400 for most of Europe, €600 for long haul, if the airline was to blame.
- Wind alone does not pay. Technical faults, crew shortages and the airline’s own strikes usually do.
- Claim directly with the airline first. It is free.
Why the wind matters at Funchal, and what to do on the day, is on our page about the airport and the wind.
Is your flight covered?
The EU rules (Regulation 261/2004, known as EU261) cover:
- Every flight departing an EU airport, whatever the airline. That includes every flight out of Funchal and Porto Santo.
- Flights arriving in the EU on an EU airline, for example an EU-registered airline flying you in from London or Geneva.
The UK kept its own copy of the rules (UK261), with the same structure and amounts in pounds, for flights departing the UK and flights into the UK on UK or EU airlines. Switzerland, Norway and Iceland apply the EU rules too.
On the day: what the airline must give you
This applies whatever caused the problem, wind included.
| Your flight | Meals and drinks after a delay of | Distance examples from Funchal |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 1,500 km | 2 hours | Lisbon, Porto, the Canaries, Porto Santo |
| 1,500 to 3,500 km, or any intra-EU flight over 1,500 km | 3 hours | London, Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Helsinki |
| Over 3,500 km, outside the EU | 4 hours | North America |
On top of meals:
- A hotel and transport to it if you are stuck overnight.
- A new flight at the earliest opportunity, or a refund if your flight is cancelled. The choice is yours.
- A refund if a delay reaches five hours and you decide not to fly.
If the airline offers nothing, pay for reasonable meals and a hotel yourself, keep every receipt, and claim the cost back. After a windy day the hotels near the airport fill fast, so book quickly if the desk cannot help.
Afterwards: the cash compensation
You can claim compensation if one of these happened and the cause was within the airline’s control:
- You reached your final destination three hours or more late (measured when the doors open at the gate).
- Your flight was cancelled less than 14 days before departure, unless the airline rerouted you close to the original times.
- You were denied boarding because the flight was overbooked.
| Distance | Compensation per passenger | Madeira examples |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 1,500 km | €250 | Lisbon, Porto, Tenerife |
| 1,500 to 3,500 km | €400 | London, Manchester, Paris, Frankfurt, Dublin |
| Intra-EU over 3,500 km | €400 | Helsinki, Stockholm |
| Outside the EU over 3,500 km | €600 (€300 if 3 to 4 hours late) | North America |
For UK claims (flights leaving the UK, or arriving there on a UK or EU airline), the amounts are £220, £350 and £520.
The money is per passenger, children included, and does not depend on what you paid for the ticket. If you were rerouted on a cancelled flight and arrived only slightly late (within two, three or four hours depending on the distance), the airline can halve it.
The wind, and what counts as the airline’s fault
Airlines do not have to pay compensation when the cause was an extraordinary circumstance: something outside their control that could not have been avoided even with all reasonable measures.
Usually extraordinary, so no compensation:
- Wind, storms, fog or volcanic ash.
- Air traffic control restrictions and strikes.
- Security alerts and airport closures.
- A bird strike.
Usually not extraordinary, so compensation is due:
- Technical faults found before or during the flight.
- Crew shortages or crew illness.
- Strikes by the airline’s own staff.
- Overbooking.
The grey area at Funchal is the knock-on delay. If the morning wind left your plane stuck elsewhere, the courts have allowed airlines to rely on that weather for your later flight. A separate technical fault or a crew problem on a calm afternoon is another matter. Ask the airline for the reason in writing, and look at the other flights: if other airlines were landing on time, the wind is a weak excuse.
Diverted to Porto Santo, Lisbon or the Canaries
A diversion is not a claim in itself. What counts is when you reached Funchal and why. Either way, the airline must look after you and get you to Madeira at its expense.
How to claim
- Collect evidence on the day: boarding passes, screenshots of the board and the airline’s messages, receipts.
- Claim directly with the airline on its online form. It is free and you keep all the money.
- Give it six to eight weeks.
- If refused or ignored, escalate. For flights from Portugal, complain to ANAC, the Portuguese civil aviation authority. For UK flights, go to the airline’s approved dispute scheme or the Civil Aviation Authority. Any business in Portugal, airlines included, must also offer the official complaints book (Livro de Reclamações), which has an online version.
- As a last resort, the small claims court in the country of departure or arrival.
Claims companies do this for a share of the payout, and it is a big share: AirHelp, one of the largest, keeps 35% including VAT, and another 15% if the case goes to court. They are never required. The deadline for going to court is set by national law and varies a lot between countries (in England and Wales it is six years), so claim soon rather than late.
The rules are changing in 2027
After thirteen years of talks, the EU agreed a reform of these rules in the summer of 2026: the Parliament approved it on 7 July and member states on 13 July. For passengers, the headline is what did not change. Compensation still starts at a three-hour delay, and the amounts stay at €250, €400 and €600.
The new text adds a fixed list of what counts as an extraordinary circumstance, set deadlines for airlines to answer claims, and new deadlines for passengers to submit them. It applies 12 months and 20 days after it is published in the EU’s Official Journal, which is expected to mean around August 2027. Until then, everything on this page applies as written, and a flight you take now is judged under the current rules.
General information, not legal advice. What you are owed depends on the actual cause of your disruption.
Questions people ask
Do I get compensation if my Madeira flight is cancelled because of wind?
Usually not. Wind at Funchal is weather, which counts as an extraordinary circumstance. You are still owed a new flight or a refund, and meals and a hotel while you wait, but not the €250 to €600 cash compensation.
How much compensation for a delayed flight from Funchal to the UK?
If you arrive three hours or more late and the cause was within the airline's control, €400 per passenger, because the flight is between 1,500 and 3,500 km. Funchal to Lisbon or Porto is under 1,500 km and pays €250.
My flight to Madeira was diverted to Porto Santo. Can I claim?
The diversion itself is not the test. What counts is how late you reached Funchal and why. If the wind caused it, no compensation, but the airline must still look after you and get you to Madeira. If you arrived three hours or more late for a reason within the airline's control, you can claim.
Do I need a claims company?
No. The airline's own online form is free and you keep all of the money. Claims companies are useful if the airline refuses or ignores you, but they keep a share of the payout.
Are flights from the UK to Madeira covered?
Yes. Flights leaving the UK are covered by the UK's version of the rules, and every flight leaving Funchal is covered by the EU rules, whatever the airline.
