EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the third article in our research series on Google Flights’ organic search rankings. Part I explored its initial growth and the regulatory context; Part II examined how airlines, OTAs, and metasearch sites were faring through August 2024. This update extends the analysis to September 2026, adds non-English markets, and uses a refined sample of comparable searches across all three dates.
In late 2023, we began seeing Google Flights route pages in the organic results for searches we track for airlines. By September 2026, those pages ranked in the top five for 44.6% of the tracked searches on average across our 15 English locales. Airlines using PROS airTRFX also reached the top five more often than before. Several online travel agencies and metasearch sites, meanwhile, dropped off page one for many of the searches they ranked for in 2023.
Google Flights is gaining ground on a playing field Google controls
Around August 2023, Google began indexing its own flight route pages. For years, users searching for flights on Google had seen the Google Flights box near the top of the results. Now, Google also shows them Google Flights through an ordinary organic listing. In Part I, we suggested that growing regulatory pressure on the box may have given Google a reason for this.
By late 2023, we were already seeing Google Flights pages reach page one for 5,403 of the English-language searches in our study. By September 2026, their average top-five coverage across those English locales had risen to 44.6%. Rankings alone can’t tell us whether Google favored its own pages. However, Google’s dual role deserves scrutiny.
Those concerns have already prompted regulatory action. In July 2026, the European Commission found Google in breach of the Digital Markets Act for self-preferencing in Search, imposing a €460 million fine for giving its own services, including transport, preferential prominence and presentation. Separately, the UK’s June 2026 fair-ranking decision requires Google to rank organic search results using objective, non-discriminatory criteria.
Airlines using airTRFX are holding their ground against Google Flights
Google Flights closed much of the gap in English, but airlines using airTRFX also reached the top five for more of their route searches. In September 2026, the airline appeared in the top five more often than Google Flights on the same keywords in 12 of 15 English locales and all 11 non-English locales. Airlines’ average top-five coverage rose in both groups. For airline SEO teams, that’s a reason to keep investing in route pages. A traveler can search for a flight without mentioning a carrier and still find the airline’s own flight pages among the first few results.
When we published Parts I and II in November 2024, we had tracked English-language flight searches from December 6, 2023, to August 7, 2024. This update follows those searches through September 2, 2026, and extends the study to other languages. We look at where Google Flights has climbed into the top five, how often it now ranks above the airline, and which OTAs and metasearch sites have lost ground on page one.
Methodological notes
- Data. We used Advanced Web Ranking (AWR) to track how PROS airTRFX customers rank for route searches on Google. All charts use this data.
- Dates. We compared the December 6, 2023, August 7, 2024, and September 2, 2026 crawls. A keyword qualified when at least one tracked site had a ranking on each of the three dates. We used that same set of keywords throughout.
- Locales. Each locale combines a language, a country, and a device, such as English searches in the US on desktop. We kept the device with more eligible keywords for each language and country, and included both devices for US English. After all keyword and route exclusions, a locale needed at least 100 distinct keywords. That left 38 airlines across 26 locales, 15 in English and 11 in other languages.
- Keywords. The final panel contains 40,566 airline-profile keyword records, or 39,904 searches counted once per locale. We included five kinds of non-branded flight searches: to a city, from a city, between cities, from a city to a country, and to a country. We screened out removed route pages and excluded ambiguous 404s and self-redirects. Current page checks cannot date a route’s removal. The appendix gives the keyword count for each locale.
- Measures. First-page coverage is the share of tracked keywords where a site has an organic listing on page one. For top-five coverage, we count organic listings in positions one through five. A search feature can occupy one of those positions. We count Google Flights webpages under /travel/flights. The Google Flights box is a separate search feature and is excluded.
- Comparisons. Each locale has equal weight in our averages. For Google Flights alone, we count each keyword once per locale. For the airline comparison, we measure Google Flights and each airline on that airline’s own keywords, including searches where either site was absent. Coverage describes the searches in these customer profiles.
Google Flights is becoming a fixture on page one in English searches
By September 2026, Google Flights appeared on page one for at least half of the tracked keywords in 12 of our 15 English locales. Every English locale finished above both earlier dates. The median desktop locale went from 29% first-page coverage in December 2023 to 57% in August 2024 and 88% in September 2026. On mobile, the median went from 16% to 35% to 70%.
Google Flights also moved up the page. In English mobile locales, its average coverage in positions two through five rose from 7% in August 2024 to 35% in September 2026. On desktop, it rose from 15% to about 40%. By September, Google Flights ranked first on an average of 6% of mobile keywords and 10% of desktop keywords.
The gains reach every English locale
Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia had the highest first-page coverage in September 2026, at 93% and 92%, both on desktop. Australia’s mobile panel was lowest at 39%. The Philippines recorded the largest gain since December 2023, up about 68 percentage points. Ireland shows how much the path could vary: its desktop coverage fell from 36% to 15% before recovering to 44%.
Google Flights reaches the top five on most tracked US searches
By September 2026, a Google Flights webpage ranked in the top five for roughly two-thirds of the US searches on each device. On mobile, it ranked first for 14% of keywords and in positions two through five for another 51%. On desktop, those figures were 12% and 55%. The mobile panel covers five airlines and the desktop panel three, with different keyword sets.
Google Flights is extending its reach beyond English
In August 2024, the median first-page share across our 11 non-English locales was zero. By September 2026, coverage had increased in nine locales and reached at least 50% in four. The language and market matter here: the rollout looks quite different in Mexico and Brazil than it does in South Korea or Taiwan.
Google Flights appeared on page one for 85% of the Spanish searches in Mexico and 80% of the Portuguese searches in Brazil. Coverage remained below 4% in both Icelandic searches in Iceland and Traditional Chinese searches in Taiwan. In South Korea, it went from 3.5% in December 2023 to zero on the next two dates.
Airline sites still reach the top five more often in most locales
Airlines improved their own rankings while Google Flights gained on them. Across English locales, airlines reached the top five on an average of 67.8% of their keywords in August 2024 and 76.9% in September 2026. Google Flights climbed from 12.0% to 44.7% on those same keywords. That cut the airlines’ lead from 55.7 percentage points to 32.2.
Outside English, the airlines’ top-five lead narrowed from 67.3 to 60.9 percentage points. Airline top-five coverage rose from 67.4% to 78.2%, while Google Flights went from less than 0.1% to 17.3%. Airlines led in all 11 non-English locales at both dates.
Airline sites versus Google Flights
Share of tracked keywords in the top five or on page one, averaged equally across locales.
Each airline and Google Flights are compared on the same keywords.
On page one, Google Flights came closer. Across English locales, its coverage rose from 40.7% in August 2024 to 71.1% in September 2026. Airline coverage also rose, from 84.0% to 87.3%. Airlines still led on page one in 11 of the 15 English locales and all 11 non-English locales in September.
How often did Google Flights actually rank above the airline? Across the 21,024 airline–keyword comparisons where both appeared in August 2024 and September 2026, Google Flights ranked higher in 16.4% on the first date and 29.2% on the second. This comparison counts each record once, and 96% of the records were English-language searches.
Several OTAs and metasearch sites fall behind as Google Flights rises
Part II identified OTAs and metasearch sites whose first-page coverage fell behind Google Flights. We revisited seven markets, comparing each brand with Google Flights on the same keywords and grouping the brand’s country domains. The chart’s blue line covers the full locale. The table uses the keywords tracked for each competitor.
On US desktop, Google Flights’ first-page coverage rose from 31% to 54% to 90% across the three dates. Kayak moved in the opposite direction, falling from 96% to 56% between December 2023 and September 2026. Cheapflights fell from 88% to 3%, Travelocity from 84% to 14%, and Orbitz from 78% to 4%. Skyscanner held up much better: its coverage increased or fell by no more than five points in six of the seven markets.
We first required at least 100 comparable keywords covering at least 25% of the locale’s keyword set, using profiles where the brand appeared in the tracking data on all three dates. To qualify for the table, a brand had to start ahead of Google Flights and on page one for at least 15% of its tracked keywords. By September 2026, its coverage had to fall by at least 5 percentage points and end up below Google Flights. Google Flights also had to appear on page one for at least half the keywords the brand lost. The solid orange lines identify that overlap. A dashed orange line means Google Flights appeared on fewer than half of the lost keywords. These comparisons cannot tell us what caused the declines.
| Market | Site | Dec 2023 | Aug 2024 | Sep 2026 | Google Flights on the same keywords, Dec 2023 to Sep 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Cheapflights | 88% | 60% | 3% | 31% to 90% |
| United States | Kayak | 96% | 97% | 56% | 31% to 90% |
| United States | Orbitz | 78% | 64% | 4% | 31% to 90% |
| United States | Travelocity | 84% | 76% | 14% | 31% to 90% |
| Canada | Cheapflights | 64% | 61% | 31% | 23% to 76% |
| Canada | CheapOair | 23% | 17% | 3% | 23% to 76% |
| Canada | Kayak | 78% | 81% | 72% | 23% to 76% |
| Canada | Orbitz | 51% | 45% | 3% | 23% to 76% |
| Canada | Travelocity | 29% | 21% | 5% | 23% to 76% |
| Canada | Trip.com | 37% | 15% | 17% | 23% to 76% |
| United Kingdom | Cheapflights | 62% | 51% | 16% | 20% to 62% |
| United Kingdom | eDreams | 54% | 48% | 12% | 14% to 84% |
| United Kingdom | Expedia | 58% | 47% | 23% | 16% to 78% |
| United Kingdom | Kayak | 50% | 45% | 19% | 16% to 78% |
| United Kingdom | Kiwi.com | 75% | 67% | 3% | 13% to 80% |
| United Kingdom | lastminute.com | 19% | 11% | 9% | 14% to 84% |
| United Kingdom | Opodo | 40% | 33% | 6% | 13% to 80% |
| United Kingdom | Trip.com | 59% | 30% | 24% | 13% to 80% |
| Japan | Kayak | 49% | 41% | 9% | 0% to 51% |
| Japan | Kiwi.com | 23% | 11% | 2% | 0% to 51% |
| Japan | Skyticket | 46% | 27% | 3% | 0% to 51% |
| Mexico | eDreams | 49% | 23% | 1% | 0% to 85% |
| Mexico | Kayak | 91% | 90% | 84% | 0% to 85% |
| Mexico | Momondo | 64% | 28% | 1% | 0% to 85% |
Twenty-four brand–market pairs met all the criteria across five of the seven markets. Kayak qualified in five markets and Cheapflights in three. In Japan and Mexico, Google Flights had no first-page presence in the first two snapshots and reached 51% and 85%, respectively, by September 2026. Several sites also lost coverage in Ireland and Australia, although none met all the criteria in either country.
