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PGA-Portugalia Airlines
Powered chairs need the airline’s prior approval · carried free · 48 h notice · 160 Wh installed-battery cap.
- Advance notice
- 48hours before departure
- Powered wheelchair
- Conditional
- Lithium, battery installed
- 160watt-hours maximum
- Cost to carry
- Free
Who to contact
Transcribed from the airline’s own pages, exactly as it labels them.
- PhonePortugal — TAP Air Portugal Contact Center special needs line (national landline); PGA is TAP's regional subsidiary and publishes no separate desk
- Online form
- Relay / text24/7 online chat offered as an alternative to Contact Center telephone supportOnline chat for passengers with speech and/or hearing impairments
PGA-Portugalia publishes no accessibility channel of its own: its registered domain portugalia-airlines.pt 301-redirects to flytap.com, and all assistance is handled through TAP's special-needs desk and Contact Center.
Read it from the source
Powered wheelchairs & batteries
The part that goes wrong. Battery chemistry and watt-hours decide whether your chair flies, and the rules differ depending on whether the battery can be removed.
Battery-powered mobility aids require TAP's approval: chairs with spillable or non-spillable batteries are hold-only and "require approval"; lithium-ion mobility aids are "permitted but requires approval". "Electric wheelchairs cannot be carried onto the aircraft. If you require this type of assistance and your flight is operated by TAP, we will provide a replacement manual chair at the time of Check-in."
Traveling with a wheelchair (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Prohibited and dangerous items on board — battery-powered wheelchairs and mobility aids (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
Lithium-ion wheelchair batteries: "Carry as hand baggage: permitted but requires approval. Carry as hold baggage: permitted but requires approval." Batteries must meet the UN Manual of Tests and Criteria, Part III, 38.3.
Prohibited and dangerous items on board — battery-powered wheelchairs and mobility aids (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
PGA has no site of its own — portugalia-airlines.pt redirects to flytap.com — so TAP's dangerous-items page is PGA's published rule: "In the case of non-removable (fixed or installed) batteries, only two batteries per device may be transported, and each must not exceed 160 Wh."
Prohibited and dangerous items on board — battery-powered wheelchairs and mobility aids (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
"If the battery can be removed and the device does not provide adequate protection for it, it must be removed in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. The battery to be removed must not exceed 300 Wh." Removed batteries travel in the cabin.
Prohibited and dangerous items on board — battery-powered wheelchairs and mobility aids (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
"You may carry a maximum of one spare battery not exceeding 300 Wh or two spare batteries not exceeding 160 Wh each", protected against damage and carried as hand baggage.
Prohibited and dangerous items on board — battery-powered wheelchairs and mobility aids (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
One spare of up to 300 Wh, or two spares of up to 160 Wh each. For non-spillable-battery chairs: one extra wet non-spillable spare, or two dry / nickel-metal-hydride spares.
Prohibited and dangerous items on board — battery-powered wheelchairs and mobility aids (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
Not normally. On spillable and non-spillable chairs "batteries must remain installed". A lithium battery must be removed only "if the mobility aid does not provide adequate protection", following the manufacturer's instructions, and is then carried in the cabin (max 300 Wh).
Prohibited and dangerous items on board — battery-powered wheelchairs and mobility aids (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
Wheelchairs with non-spillable batteries: hand baggage prohibited, hold carriage requires approval. Loaded, stored and unloaded upright, battery remains installed, terminals protected. One additional wet non-spillable spare battery, or two dry or nickel-metal-hydride spares, may be carried.
Prohibited and dangerous items on board — battery-powered wheelchairs and mobility aids (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
Wheelchairs powered by flooded (spillable) batteries: hand baggage prohibited, hold carriage requires approval. The chair must be loaded, stored, secured and unloaded upright; the battery must remain installed and securely attached, terminals protected against short circuit, and flooded batteries always carried in suitable packaging.
Prohibited and dangerous items on board — battery-powered wheelchairs and mobility aids (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
"Protect the battery terminals to avoid short circuits"; the battery must be securely attached to the chair and disconnected from the electrical circuits according to the manufacturer's instructions — for example disconnect the battery or turn off the main switch.
Prohibited and dangerous items on board — battery-powered wheelchairs and mobility aids (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
No document is required to be presented. TAP asks only that you declare, when booking, whether the chair is manual or electric and the battery type and specifications, and that lithium batteries comply with UN Manual of Tests and Criteria Part III, 38.3.
Traveling with a wheelchair (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Prohibited and dangerous items on board — battery-powered wheelchairs and mobility aids (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
Smallest hold door in TAP's published table is the TAP Express Embraer 190/195 — the regional jet fleet PGA flies: "Height: 0,87 cm (34 pol.) x Largura: 0,99 cm (39 pol.)", an obvious unit typo for 0.87 m x 0.99 m (34 x 39 in). This is the cargo-door aperture, not a stated maximum chair size.
Traveling with a wheelchair (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 TAP fleet — TAP Express (Embraer 190 / Embraer 195) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
No weight limit for powered wheelchairs published on flytap.com.
Not published for powered chairs.
TAP's dangerous-items table says a lithium-battery mobility aid may be carried "as hand baggage" with approval, while the wheelchair page says electric wheelchairs cannot be carried onto the aircraft and a manual replacement chair is provided at check-in. Read the two pages together before travelling.
Manual wheelchairs
"If you want to travel alone and with your own wheelchair, you can do so" — notify the need to transport a wheelchair before departure; up to two chairs per passenger travel free in the hold.
Traveling with a wheelchair (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
Not published: TAP says electric wheelchairs cannot be carried onto the aircraft but states nothing about stowing a folding manual chair in the cabin.
Traveling with a wheelchair (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
No in-cabin stowage dimensions published.
TAP publishes no maximum wheelchair size — only hold-door apertures per fleet, which are recorded under electric.max_dimensions and aircraft_hold_note.
Traveling with a wheelchair (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
No weight limit for wheelchairs published on flytap.com.
Not published: TAP describes assistance to the aircraft door or to the seat, but does not say where a passenger's own chair is returned on arrival.
Traveling with a wheelchair (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
Booking & cost
"Make your Assistance Request up to 48h before your trip, otherwise we cannot guarantee the provision of the service." The request form must also be submitted up to 48 h before travel. (TAP Air Portugal page; PGA's own domain redirects to flytap.com.)
PGA-Portugalia Airlines domain — portugalia-airlines.pt redirects (HTTP 301) to flytap.com (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Traveling with a wheelchair (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Assistance Request for people with special needs (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
State your degree of motor limitation and the type of assistance required; when booking, indicate whether the chair is manual or electric and give the battery type and its specifications. Codeshare or connecting itineraries must be arranged through the Contact Center.
Traveling with a wheelchair (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Assistance Request for people with special needs (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
"Each passenger can transport up to two wheelchairs on the aircraft's hold for free."
Traveling with a wheelchair (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
Up to two wheelchairs per passenger are carried free in the aircraft hold.
Traveling with a wheelchair (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
No mobility-aid-specific liability rule published. The Conditions of Carriage apply the general EU / Montreal Convention baggage-liability regime, and the wheelchair page states TAP is covered by the US non-discrimination regulations (14 CFR Part 382) on all flights to and from the USA.
Traveling with a wheelchair (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Conditions of Carriage (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
On board
"On long-haul flights, if necessary, TAP provides wheelchairs specially designed to circulate in the narrow aisles." Nothing is published for the short-haul TAP Express Embraer operation that PGA flies.
Traveling with a wheelchair (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
Not published.
"The crew will assist you with boarding and disembarking, accommodation on board and in-cabin information. However, it cannot help you with your personal care, movement or eating." Passengers with severe motor difficulties must travel accompanied.
Traveling with a wheelchair (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
"In some cases, seat reservation may be free for passengers with specific accessibility needs." No published rule on movable armrests or bulkhead seats.
Traveling with a wheelchair (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29
Fleet detail. TAP publishes hold-door apertures by fleet (printed as "cm", evidently metres): TAP Express Embraer 190/195 — 0.87 x 0.99 m (34 x 39 in); A319/A320/A321 and A320/A321 NEO/LR — 1.24 x 1.81 m (48 x 71 in); A330-200 and A330-900neo — 1.70 x 2.70 m (66 x 106 in). PGA flies the Embraer 190/195, i.e. the smallest door.
Worth knowing
PGA-Portugalia Airlines has no separate consumer website: its registered domain www.portugalia-airlines.pt returns HTTP 301 to www.flytap.com, so TAP Air Portugal's pages are the published policy a PGA passenger is sent to. TAP markets PGA's Embraer 190/195 operation as "TAP Express" and publishes a separate, much smaller hold-door figure for that fleet (0.87 x 0.99 m). A human should confirm which flights PGA actually operates, because the hold door, aisle-chair availability and the "replacement manual chair on TAP-operated flights" wording all differ by fleet. Other points: passengers with severe motor difficulties must travel accompanied; at Lisbon, Porto, Faro, Ponta Delgada, Santa Maria, Horta, Flores, Funchal and Porto Santo the airport assistance is delivered by ANA's "My Way" service rather than by the airline; a request made less than 48 h before departure is not guaranteed.
Sources
Every figure above traces to one of these.
- s1 PGA-Portugalia Airlines domain — portugalia-airlines.pt redirects (HTTP 301) to flytap.com (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
- s2 Traveling with a wheelchair (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
- s3 Prohibited and dangerous items on board — battery-powered wheelchairs and mobility aids (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
- s4 Special needs (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
- s5 Assistance Request for people with special needs (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
- s6 TAP fleet — TAP Express (Embraer 190 / Embraer 195) (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
- s7 Conditions of Carriage (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
- s8 Deaf passengers (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
Record quality
Record status researched · confidence high · 8 official sources · 3 contacts · 72% of the fields this reference tracks are answered. Newest source read 29 July 2026, the day before this page was built. What these mean.