No official source ranks Air India against IndiGo for safety, so neither can be called officially safer. Both are Indian scheduled airlines that operate under DGCA approval and the same national oversight. DGCA’s audits and spot checks cover airlines, and AAIB publishes its accident investigation reports. Treat any safety ranking or score you see online as someone’s opinion, not regulation.
Updated November 2026 · HappyFares
Travellers often ask this when choosing between two big airlines. The honest answer is that India’s regulator does not publish a league table, so this post sticks to what the regulator and investigators actually publish and how you can read it yourself.
Is there an official safety ranking of Indian airlines?
We could not find any DGCA or AAIB publication that ranks Indian airlines against each other. DGCA is the regulator that approves and oversees airlines. AAIB is the separate bureau that investigates accidents and serious incidents. Neither body issues a “safest airline” list.
That matters because many websites publish airline safety scores or star ratings. Those come from private methods, and they are not DGCA findings. A score may be built on public incident records, fleet age or the opinion of the person who made it, and it is not a regulatory verdict. If a page says DGCA or AAIB rates an airline a certain way, ask for the exact document.
What does DGCA oversight actually cover?
An Indian airline needs approval from DGCA before it can fly passengers. In its replies to Parliament, the government has described the process: after the initial no-objection from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, DGCA grants the Air Operator Certificate to an operator once it has ensured compliance with the applicable regulatory requirements. DGCA also publishes a list of scheduled operators on its website, which is the place to confirm that an airline is on it.
Approval is not a one-time event. In 2025 the government told Parliament that DGCA carries out planned and unplanned surveillance of airlines, including regular audits, spot checks and night surveillance. These checks apply to every scheduled airline under the same rulebook, which is the practical meaning of “the same regulator”. Air India and IndiGo are inspected by the same body under the same Civil Aviation Requirements.
The detail of any individual audit is not usually public, and DGCA does not translate its findings into a score for passengers. When DGCA takes enforcement action, such as a penalty or a show-cause notice, it is typically reported in the press and sometimes in answers to Parliament. Those are worth reading in context, because an airline with more flights will naturally appear more often in raw counts.
Where can you check the facts yourself?
Three public sources are worth knowing:
- DGCA website: its published lists of scheduled operators, its circulars and its Civil Aviation Requirements show the rules airlines must follow.
- AAIB website: after an investigation is completed and accepted by the Director General, AAIB says its investigation reports are made public on its website. Reading a full report is more informative than a news summary, but remember that one report is about one event.
- Parliamentary answers: written replies from the Ministry of Civil Aviation often include figures on audits, inspections and enforcement. These are official, dated and attributable.
One aviation detail worth knowing: the flight recorders investigators rely on are often called black boxes, but they are painted bright orange so they are easy to find in wreckage. Investigators use them to understand what happened, and the findings can lead to safety recommendations for the whole industry.
Why can’t a single incident tell you which airline is safer?
A single event, however widely reported, does not give you a fair comparison. Airlines differ in fleet size, routes, aircraft types and the number of flights they operate each day, so raw counts of incidents or penalties are not comparable. Large operators also tend to appear in the news more often simply because they fly more.
Investigations also take time, and early reports are preliminary. AAIB’s own process says final reports are released after the investigation is complete, so be cautious with conclusions drawn from the first headlines. This post deliberately does not discuss specific accidents, because the right place to read about them is the investigator’s own report.
So how should you choose between the two?
Since both fly under the same regulator, most practical choices come down to things you can see for yourself: your route and timings, schedule reliability on that sector, the fare family and what it includes, and the airline’s rules on changes and cancellations. For IndiGo, fares such as Saver and Flexi Plus differ in flexibility. For Air India, Value, Classic and Flex differ in baggage and changes. Check the fare rules on the airline’s own pages before you pay.
If safety information matters to you, read the primary sources above rather than a ranking site, and remember that regulators set a minimum standard that every licensed airline has to meet.
Common Questions
Does DGCA rank airlines by safety?
We found no DGCA publication that ranks Indian airlines by safety. DGCA approves and oversees airlines, but it does not issue a passenger-facing league table.
Do Air India and IndiGo follow the same safety rules?
Both are Indian scheduled airlines regulated by DGCA, so the same national rules and oversight framework apply to both.
Where are accident investigation reports published?
AAIB says accepted investigation reports are made public on its website, aaib.gov.in. Preliminary and final reports are different, so check which one you are reading.
Are online airline safety ratings reliable?
They are private opinions or scores built on their own methods. They are not DGCA or AAIB findings, so look at how a rating is built before relying on it.
Does a penalty from DGCA mean an airline is unsafe?
Not by itself. Enforcement action means a specific lapse was found and addressed. Compare like with like, since larger airlines operate more flights and appear more often in raw counts.
Can I check whether an airline is licensed in India?
Yes. DGCA publishes a list of scheduled operators on its website, and an airline selling domestic tickets in India should be on it.
Comparing airlines for your trip? Search flights on HappyFares, with zero convenience fee on domestic bookings, set price alerts, and add travel insurance if you want extra cover.
Rules and publications change; verify current specifics with the airline, DGCA, AAIB or the airport before you travel.
