Porto delays on Friday, 23 July 2021
Eurocontrol logged 1,842 minutes of air-traffic arrival delay at Porto that day across 44 arrivals held 15 minutes or more out of 119 (37% of the day's arrivals), with 57% of the delay attributed to aerodrome capacity. That makes it the 98th worst day at Porto since January 2019.
Eurocontrol record · LPPR · 2021-07-23
Delay codes are Eurocontrol's IATA-standard causes. 43% of this day's delay sits in categories airlines usually plead as extraordinary circumstances.
Were you on a flight that day?
What this means if your flight was late
Under UK261 and EU261 you are owed £220, £350 or £520 (or €250, €400, €600) per passenger for arriving three hours or more late, unless the airline proves extraordinary circumstances that could not have been avoided even with all reasonable measures. Airport-wide records like this one are the airline's favourite evidence, and they cut both ways.
- The usual defences have little behind them on this day. The logged cause was aerodrome capacity, which is arguable at best. A refusal citing weather or air traffic control should be answered with this record.
- Cancelled that day? Compensation depends on notice: under 14 days and no close re-routing means it is due, subject to the same extraordinary-circumstances test. You are always owed a refund or re-routing and care while you wait.
- Delayed under three hours? No fixed compensation, but food, drink and communications were owed after two hours on a short flight, and reasonable expenses are recoverable.
The free check pulls your flight's own record (actual arrival time against schedule) and pairs it with this day's data, so the verdict and the letter are specific to your flight, not to the airport.
Other airports the same day
| Heraklion | 910 min | ATC capacity |
| Athens | 836 min | ATC capacity |
| Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen | 750 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| Tenerife North | 653 min | Weather |
| Santorini | 591 min | ATC capacity |
| Mikonos | 495 min | ATC capacity |
| Cannes Mandelieu | 461 min | ATC capacity |
| Khania Souda | 355 min | ATC capacity |
| Cologne Bonn | 271 min | Aerodrome capacity |
Other bad days at Porto
| 2 October 2024 | 9,127 min | Weather |
| 18 September 2019 | 8,542 min | Weather |
| 20 November 2022 | 8,252 min | Weather |
| 7 June 2019 | 7,606 min | ATC equipment |
| 5 October 2024 | 7,527 min | Weather |
| 6 June 2025 | 7,259 min | ATC equipment |
| 30 May 2025 | 7,178 min | Weather |
| 8 December 2019 | 7,087 min | Weather |
Questions
My flight from Porto on 23 July 2021 was delayed. Can I claim compensation?
If you arrived at your final destination 3 hours or more late, the starting position is £220 to £520 per passenger depending on distance. The airline can refuse only by proving extraordinary circumstances that affected your specific flight. Eurocontrol's record for this day does not show the kind of cause airlines usually plead, so a refusal on those grounds would be weak. Run the free check on your flight number for the verified answer.
Was the Porto disruption on 23 July 2021 caused by weather?
Partly or wholly: 43% of the 1,842 logged minutes were coded as weather. The airport's own weather observations that day show no significant phenomena, lowest visibility 4007 m and strongest gust none reported kt.
Does a bad day at Porto mean every delayed flight is exempt from compensation?
No. Air-traffic delay attributed to an airport explains some of the day's lateness, not all of it, and it is the airline that must prove your flight's delay was caused by it and could not have been avoided with reasonable measures such as schedule buffers and spare aircraft. Flights delayed by a technical fault, crew shortage or a late inbound aircraft from an unaffected airport are compensable regardless of what happened at Porto.
Sources: Eurocontrol Performance Review Unit, airport arrival ATFM delay by cause (daily); METAR observations via the Iowa Environmental Mesonet archive. This page describes the airport's day; your flight's own record decides your claim. All Porto delay days.