Google Flights API: There Isn’t an Official One
A Google Flights API is what people type when they want Google’s fares in JSON. There is no official public one. Google shut QPX Express on 10 April 2018. What ranks for that query now is extraction.
This page owns that fact. The Ktemia search contract stays on the flight search API post: POST /v1/flights, three required fields, not live yet. We will not paste invented Google-style fares.
Key Takeaways
- TechCrunch, 1 November 2017: QPX Express ends 10 April 2018. Google cited low partner interest.
- Wrappers that “are” a Google Flights API in 2026 read a UI. They are not a feed you own.
- Search is comparison. It is not a ticket.
Did Google ever ship a Google Flights API?
Yes. Then it killed the public one.
On 1 November 2017, TechCrunch reported Google would shut QPX Express on 10 April 2018. The API was the public airfare feed that followed Google’s ITA Software acquisition. A spokesperson said they would no longer support it given low interest among travel partners, and would focus on other enterprise solutions.
The same article: until shutdown, existing users paid $0.02 per query after 50 free daily queries (down from $0.035). New users were not taken on. QPX Enterprise, a separate paid product, was confirmed to continue.
The Verge quoted the developer FAQ: if you were actively using QPX Express, find an alternate solution before 11 April 2018.
The 2026 SERP for google flights api is a graveyard with new paint. Tutorials still show developers.google.com/qpx-express. That path is the shutdown notice, not a getting-started guide. Ranking a scrape as if it replaced QPX is how a legal and ops problem becomes your on-call.
A citation you can lift: there is no official public Google Flights API after 10 April 2018. Products in that tab extract Google Flights. They are not this site’s flights contract.
What are you actually buying in that SERP?
Three different jobs share the words.
QPX Express. Public. Gone 10 April 2018.
Paid, account-managed. Not a self-serve Google Flights key.
Serp-style or browser automation against Google Flights. Not your API.
A flight search API is origin, destination, dates in, comparable fares out. Ignav’s Best Flight APIs for Developers (August 2026) already splits fare search, order creation, and Google Flights extraction. Extraction is the third row. Do not wire it into checkout and call it Google.
Partner-gated search that is still a real API looks like Skyscanner Live Prices (create-and-poll after Partnerships) or Kiwi’s Tequila search, which is their stack, not Google’s.
Ktemia is none of those three Google rows. We search and compare. We do not scrape Google Flights. We do not sell QPX. Flights search with AI is the vertical. The copilot asks when a field is missing. It does not invent LHR.
Why a scrape is not a search contract
You do not send origin, destination, and depart to a stable host you run. You send a browser or a SERP parser at a page Google can change on a Tuesday.
When the layout moves, your types break. When the ToS is enforced, your key dies. When the results are personalised, two servers disagree. That is not “the Google Flights API.” That is someone else’s UI with extra steps.
Teams search google flights api because they trust the brand on the consumer site. The consumer site is not an SLA for your app. QPX Express was the closest thing to that SLA in public. It has been off for eight years.
The worked query on this site stays LIS → LHR, depart 2026-10-12. Same airports in the UI, the POST, and the copilot. We will not show a fake Google Flights card with an invented price. When POST /v1/flights is live, that article gets a dated response.
What does Ktemia do instead?
One POST, when the route exists: origin, destination, depart. Reject if any is missing. The copilot asks. Neither guesses a city because the user said “weekend in Europe.”
That contract is the flight search API article. Agents call it through flights MCP without scraping a results page. Free is 50 API requests a month, not unlimited Google. Do not put a dashboard key in frontend JavaScript.
Terms treat a search as comparison, not a reservation. A successful search will still not be a ticket. Google Flights on google.com is a consumer search. It is not our merchant of record, and we are not theirs.
If you wanted Amadeus self-service, that door closed 17 July 2026. That comparison is Amadeus API vs Skyscanner API. If you wanted a GDS that books, that is GDS vs booking engine vs a search API. Different SERPs. Different products.
Stop searching for a key Google retired.
A Google Flights API, in the public sense, ended in 2018. The name stuck. The feed did not. Do not build on a scrape and call it official.
The search job is the flight search API post. For the alternatives that do publish a key, see which travel APIs you can actually get access to. If you want the numbers behind why one source is never enough, our flight price comparison data covers 18,299 fare observations. The platform around flights, stays, cars, and a home is search a trip or a move. Routes are not live. When they are, we will date a real response, not dress up a screenshot of google.com/flights.
Sources
- TechCrunch, Google will pull its QPX Express API in April 2018 (1 November 2017, retrieved 2026-09-20)
- The Verge, Google will stop feeding free airfare data to travel websites (1 November 2017, retrieved 2026-09-20)
- Ignav, Best Flight APIs for Developers (retrieved 2026-09-20)
- Ktemia, Flight Search API: Compare Fares for a Route (retrieved 2026-09-20)
- Ktemia, Pricing (retrieved 2026-09-20)
- Ktemia, Terms of Service (retrieved 2026-09-20)
FAQ
Is there an official Google Flights API in 2026?
No. Google shut the public QPX Express airfare API on 10 April 2018. TechCrunch reported Google cited low interest among travel partners. Wrappers you see now extract or wrap the Google Flights UI. That is not an official public API.
What was QPX Express?
QPX Express was Google’s public airfare-search API after the ITA Software acquisition. New signups stopped before the cut. Existing users paid a metered rate after a small free daily quota until 10 April 2018. QPX Enterprise was a separate paid product.
Is a Google Flights scraper a flight search API?
No. A flight search API is a contract you send origin, destination, and dates to. A scraper reads someone else’s page. HTML changes, ToS, and blocked IPs are that product’s risk. It is not Ktemia’s flights POST.
Can I book a ticket through a Google Flights API?
There is no official public Google Flights API to book through. Extraction tools return structured results from a UI. Booking still happens on an airline or OTA. Ktemia’s terms treat a search as comparison, not a reservation.
What should I use instead of a Google Flights API?
A search-and-compare flights API you control. Ktemia’s contract is POST /v1/flights with origin, destination, and depart. The route is not live. Do not guess those fields. Do not paste a dashboard key into frontend JavaScript.