IndiGo vs Air India: share of search in India, 2021 to 2026
Airline search is driven by fares and news as much as by preference, which makes this the category that shows best why every spike needs a cause. From the Colleviate Share of Search Index, with the data free to download.
IndiGo has the largest share of domestic airline brand search in India: 55.6% over the three months to September 2026, against Air India at 37.8%. It has led every month since July 2025. Shares barely moved over the past year: no brand gained a full point.
Download this category (CSV) Monthly, November 2021 to September 2026. Free to use with attribution. All nine categories
Who leads airlines search now
Shares are the average of the last three months, set against the same three months a year earlier and the first three months of the series.
| Brand | Start of series | A year ago | Last three months | Change in a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IndiGo | 54.0% | 54.9% | 55.6% | +0.7 pts |
| Air India | 33.5% | 37.6% | 37.8% | +0.2 pts |
| Akasa Air | 0.2% | 3.1% | 3.0% | -0.1 pts |
| SpiceJet | 12.2% | 4.3% | 3.6% | -0.7 pts |
What changed
IndiGo leads with 55.6%, close to where it started. Air India rose from 33.5% to 37.8%. Its only month in the lead was June 2025, the month of the Ahmedabad crash, which is why every spike in share of search needs a cause attached before anyone reads it as demand. SpiceJet fell from 12.2% to 3.6%; Akasa Air grew from almost nothing to 3.0%.
Who has led, and for how long
The lead has changed hands 2 times in 59 months. Counting every month since November 2021: IndiGo for 58 months and Air India for 1 month.
| Leader | From | To | Months | Public event that month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IndiGo | Nov 2021 | May 2025 | 43 | |
| Air India | Jun 2025 | Jun 2025 | 1 | The month of the Ahmedabad crash |
| IndiGo | Jul 2025 | Sep 2026 | 15 |
The months that moved it
The largest month-on-month changes in any brand's share. A spike needs a cause before it is read as demand: where a public, dated event explains one, it is named; the rest are reported as they are.
- June 2025: Air India +17.9 points, to 57.6%, the month of the Ahmedabad crash.
- June 2025: IndiGo -15.7 points, to 36.5%.
- July 2025: IndiGo +14.7 points, to 51.2%.
Each brand's single highest week of search interest: IndiGo in November 2025, Air India in June 2025 (the month of the Ahmedabad crash), Akasa Air in August 2022 and SpiceJet in November 2021.
Search share and market share
DGCA publishes domestic passenger numbers and market share by airline every month. Search share in this category is unusually sensitive to news: delays, incidents and fare sales all drive searches that have little to do with choosing an airline.
This is attention, not sales: see share of search and market share, and what is a good share of search for how to read a number like this one.
How this category is measured
The search terms are “IndiGo”, “Air India”, “Akasa Air” and “SpiceJet”. They were pulled together, so they share one scale. Data retrieved 14 October 2026; the full method is on the index page.
The monthly data
Share of search by month, November 2021 to September 2026 (%)
| Month | IndiGo | Air India | Akasa Air | SpiceJet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2026 | 56.6 | 37.2 | 3.1 | 3.1 |
| Aug 2026 | 54.0 | 38.6 | 2.8 | 4.5 |
| Jul 2026 | 56.2 | 37.5 | 3.1 | 3.1 |
| Jun 2026 | 55.0 | 39.3 | 2.9 | 2.9 |
| May 2026 | 53.8 | 39.2 | 2.7 | 4.3 |
| Apr 2026 | 52.6 | 38.3 | 3.2 | 5.8 |
| Mar 2026 | 51.5 | 40.3 | 3.0 | 5.2 |
| Feb 2026 | 54.3 | 38.3 | 2.3 | 5.1 |
| Jan 2026 | 54.7 | 37.4 | 3.7 | 4.2 |
| Dec 2025 | 64.3 | 29.3 | 2.7 | 3.7 |
| Nov 2025 | 60.7 | 32.3 | 3.0 | 3.9 |
| Oct 2025 | 56.4 | 34.3 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| Sep 2025 | 57.6 | 35.1 | 2.6 | 4.6 |
| Aug 2025 | 56.0 | 34.8 | 4.3 | 4.8 |
| Jul 2025 | 51.2 | 42.9 | 2.4 | 3.5 |
| Jun 2025 | 36.5 | 57.6 | 2.9 | 2.9 |
| May 2025 | 52.2 | 39.7 | 3.8 | 4.3 |
| Apr 2025 | 55.4 | 36.3 | 3.6 | 4.8 |
| Mar 2025 | 54.5 | 36.4 | 3.8 | 5.3 |
| Feb 2025 | 55.6 | 35.4 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Jan 2025 | 57.8 | 33.3 | 4.2 | 4.7 |
| Dec 2024 | 56.1 | 34.3 | 4.3 | 5.2 |
| Nov 2024 | 54.6 | 36.2 | 4.1 | 5.1 |
| Oct 2024 | 57.0 | 33.5 | 4.5 | 5.0 |
| Sep 2024 | 58.4 | 30.6 | 4.6 | 6.4 |
| Aug 2024 | 59.0 | 30.6 | 4.6 | 5.8 |
| Jul 2024 | 56.7 | 31.0 | 4.7 | 7.6 |
| Jun 2024 | 55.3 | 34.0 | 4.8 | 5.9 |
| May 2024 | 51.9 | 38.3 | 4.9 | 4.9 |
| Apr 2024 | 55.5 | 35.5 | 3.2 | 5.8 |
| Mar 2024 | 55.9 | 32.3 | 4.3 | 7.5 |
| Feb 2024 | 55.0 | 32.5 | 5.0 | 7.5 |
| Jan 2024 | 54.9 | 31.0 | 4.3 | 9.8 |
| Dec 2023 | 55.5 | 30.5 | 3.6 | 10.5 |
| Nov 2023 | 56.0 | 32.1 | 3.1 | 8.8 |
| Oct 2023 | 56.1 | 32.9 | 3.5 | 7.5 |
| Sep 2023 | 58.5 | 30.3 | 4.2 | 7.0 |
| Aug 2023 | 58.7 | 30.7 | 4.0 | 6.7 |
| Jul 2023 | 60.2 | 28.4 | 5.7 | 5.7 |
| Jun 2023 | 57.9 | 30.3 | 5.3 | 6.6 |
| May 2023 | 55.8 | 29.7 | 5.8 | 8.7 |
| Apr 2023 | 56.9 | 31.2 | 4.4 | 7.5 |
| Mar 2023 | 55.6 | 33.1 | 3.0 | 8.3 |
| Feb 2023 | 55.6 | 32.7 | 2.6 | 9.2 |
| Jan 2023 | 53.8 | 32.8 | 2.7 | 10.8 |
| Dec 2022 | 56.1 | 30.4 | 2.7 | 10.8 |
| Nov 2022 | 57.1 | 30.0 | 2.9 | 10.0 |
| Oct 2022 | 57.6 | 29.1 | 3.5 | 9.9 |
| Sep 2022 | 56.6 | 31.6 | 2.9 | 8.8 |
| Aug 2022 | 54.2 | 29.9 | 6.2 | 9.7 |
| Jul 2022 | 56.7 | 28.7 | 3.9 | 10.7 |
| Jun 2022 | 55.5 | 31.4 | 0.7 | 12.4 |
| May 2022 | 56.1 | 30.0 | 0.6 | 13.3 |
| Apr 2022 | 55.1 | 33.3 | 0.0 | 11.6 |
| Mar 2022 | 53.0 | 34.4 | 0.0 | 12.6 |
| Feb 2022 | 53.0 | 35.8 | 0.0 | 11.3 |
| Jan 2022 | 52.1 | 37.6 | 0.0 | 10.3 |
| Dec 2021 | 55.6 | 31.7 | 0.7 | 12.0 |
| Nov 2021 | 54.4 | 31.3 | 0.0 | 14.3 |
Cite this data
Free to use, quote and republish under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence, with a link to this page.
Colleviate Share of Search Index, India: Domestic airlines, October 2026, colleviate.com/blog/share-of-search-airlines-india.html
Questions we get asked
Who has the highest share of search in airlines in India?
IndiGo, with 55.6% of domestic airline brand search over the three months to September 2026, ahead of Air India at 37.8%. It has led every month since July 2025.
How often has the lead changed?
The lead has changed hands 2 times in 59 months. Counting every month since November 2021: IndiGo for 58 months and Air India for 1 month.
Is share of search the same as market share in airlines?
No. It measures attention: the share of branded searches, which tends to move before market share but is not sales. DGCA publishes domestic passenger numbers and market share by airline every month.
Can I use this data?
Yes. It is published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Download the CSV from this page and cite it as: Colleviate Share of Search Index, India: Domestic airlines, October 2026, colleviate.com/blog/share-of-search-airlines-india.html.
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