New research has unveiled the world’s most turbulent flight routes and airports from 2024 — here’s the full list to see which flight routes or airports you may want to avoid
The world’s most turbulent airports and flight routes in 2024, have been revealed.
If you are scared of flying, you may want to stay away from these travel hubs and flight routes. New research conducted by Turbli, a turbulence forecast site, found the world’s most turbulent route is between Mendoza in Argentina and Santiago in Chile, which achieved a 24.684 eddy dissipation rate (edr).
Turbulence levels are split into categories, with light measuring between zero and 20 edr, moderate measuring between 20 and 40 edr, severe measuring between 60 and 80 and extreme measuring between 80 and 100 edr.
The second most turbulent route was found to be Cordoba in Spain to Santiago, which measured 20.214 edr. For the airports with the most turbulence, Santiago in Chile took the number one spot, followed by Mendoza in Argentina and Salta, in Argentina. Turbulence is irregular and often unpredictable movements of the aircraft caused by disturbances in the air. It can range from mild to severe and is typically associated with changes in air pressure, atmospheric conditions, and wind patterns.
In May 2024, Singapore Airlines Flight 321 experienced severe turbulence which caused unrestrained passengers and flight crew onboard the flight to be thrown about the cabin. A 73-year-old British male passenger suffered a suspected heart attack during the incident and was pronounced dead upon arrival in Bangkok.
In total, over 100 individuals sustained injuries of varying severity. There are around 10,000 routes connecting the 550 largest airports in the world, and Turbli ranked them using its turbulence forecast archive and by evaluating turbulence along available flight tracks recorded during 2024.
The world’s most turbulent routes in 2024:
1. Mendoza (MDZ) – Santiago (SCL) = 24.684 edr
2. Cordoba (COR) – Santiago (SCL) = 19.825 edr
3. Mendoza (MDZ) – Salta (SLA) = 19.825 edr
4. Mendoza (MDZ) – San Carlos de Bariloche (BRC) = 19.252 edr
5. Kathmandu (KTM) – Lhasa (LXA) = 18.817 edr
6. Chengdu (CTU) – Lhasa (LXA) = 18.644 edr
7. Santa Cruz (VVI) – Santiago (SCL) = 18.598 edr
8. Kathmandu (KTM) – Paro (PBH) = 18.563 edr
9. Chengdu (CTU) – Xining (XNN) = 18.482 edr
10. San Carlos de Bariloche (BRC) – Santiago (SCL) = 18.475 edr
Airports with highest average turbulence in 2024:
1. Santiago, Chile = 23.065 edr
2. Mendoza, Argentina = 22.755 edr
3. Salta, Argentina = 20.407 edr
4. Kathmandu, Nepal = 18.691 edr
5. Lhasa, China = 18.168 edr
6. Paro, Bhutan = 18.128 edr
7. Xining, China = 17.93 edr
8. Denver, Colorado = 17.29 edr
9. Kabul, Afghanistan = 17.206 edr
10. Bozeman, Montana, USA = 17.082 edr
