How to submit a complaint to ANAC

Regulation (EC) Nº 261/2004, of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 February 2004, establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights.

Regulation (EC) Nº 1107/2006, of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2006, concerning the rights of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility when travelling by air.

The Portuguese Civil Aviation Authority is also responsible for supervising compliance with the provisions of Decree-Law 156/2005 of 15 September 2005 - which establishes the obligation to make the complaints book available to all suppliers of goods or service providers who have contact with the general public.

ANAC is the body responsible for implementing the abovementioned Regulations as regards to:

• Flights from Portuguese airports (national territory) and
• Arrival at Portuguese airports of flights from countries outside the European Union, provided they are operated by Community carriers.

In accordance with the procedures agreed between the European Commission and the national bodies in the Member States of the European Union, complaints should be:

• First, sent by passengers, to the operating air carrier;
• Referred to the civil aviation authorities where the situation originated, if the passengers have not received a reply from the air carrier within six weeks of receipt of the complaint, or if the air carrier's reply has not been satisfactory.

Complaints that fall within the scope of the above information may be submitted here.

Please note that in order to submit the complaint you must include the:

• Complaint sent to the air carrier;
• Reply from the air carrier;
• Copy of the reservation.

Complaints may be submitted in Portuguese or English.

The above mentioned documents may also be sent by mail, to the following address:
ANAC - Autoridade Nacional da Aviação Civil
Rua B, Edifício 4 - Aeroporto Humberto Delgado
1749-034 Lisboa

Please note that in the exercise of its sanctioning powers, ANAC investigates the infractions committed, resulting from the violation of legal and regulatory provisions, instructs the corresponding sanctioning procedures and misdemeanor proceedings and applies fines and other penalties provided for by law to the offenders.

However, the power to impose penalties does not include the determination of compensation or refunds due to passengers. Therefore, passengers who are unhappy with the air carrier reply may use judicial or extrajudicial means to enforce their claims.

For further information, please check here.

Data protection clause
The personal data collected (name; address; telephone and email contact(s), of the reservation holder and other passengers on the reservation in question, as well as any other personal information contained in the complaint submitted) are processed by ANAC, as Data Controller, under the terms of Law no. 58/2019, of 8 August - Personal Data Protection Law (that implements Regulation 2016/679 of the European Parliament of 27 April 2016, on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data).

The purpose of processing the personal data collected in this way is to process and manage complaints that fall within the scope of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 February 2004, establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights, or other consumer rights legislation, as well as for the purpose of exchanging information with the air carrier, other entities concerned/involved in the complaint and/or Civil Aviation Authorities of other Member States of the European Union.

All the information contained in the complaint (including the complainant's personal data) will also be duly processed, and whenever justified, for the purpose of administrative offence proceedings against the air carrier concerned by the complaint.

The personal data processed in this context will be kept for as long as the process to which it relates remains active, and after its inactivity, for a period of 5 years from the date of inactivity, unless a longer injunction period is legally applicable.

The holder of the personal data has the right to consult their personal data, identified above, and rectify it on request through the following contacts:
E-mail address: consumidor@anac.pt   
Postal address: Rua B, Edifício 4 - Aeroporto Humberto Delgado 1749-034 Lisboa Portugal

The holder of the personal data also has the right to request access, rectification, deletion, limitation of processing, portability and opposition to the processing of their data from ANAC, via the email address of the Personal Data Protection Officer, epd@anac.pt.

In the event of any violation, the holders of the personal data in question have the right to lodge a complaint with the national supervisory authority, the National Data Protection Commission.

The communication of the personal data requested here is necessary for processing and analyzing the complaint and failure to provide this data will result in ANAC being unable to process it.
 
For further information on ANAC's personal data protection policy, please visit this page.

Additional information

The EU complaint form must only be completed in cases of denied boarding, downgrading, cancellation or long delay of a flight.

For other types of complaints, particularly those relating to baggage, changes to flight times made more than 14 days before the date of your trip, issues with tickets or reservations, passengers should also first submit them to the air carrier concerned.