Flying soon? Here are the world’s most turbulent flight routes

The most turbulent route is the 120-mile trip between Mendoza, Argentina, and Santiago, Chile, which crosses the Andes, the world’s longest continental mountain range. Flying over the Andes exposes planes to powerful air waves that can travel hundreds of miles, Turbli founder Ignacio Gallego Marcos told CNN.

Other turbulence hotspots include:

• North America: Routes crossing the Rocky Mountains, especially from Denver and Salt Lake City.

• Europe: Flights over the Alps between France, Italy, and Switzerland.

• Asia: The 320-mile Natori–Tokoname route in Japan, where a powerful jet stream regularly disrupts air flow.

Turbulence occurs when air currents are disrupted, much like a river’s smooth flow encountering a boulder. Mountains, thunderstorms, and sudden wind shifts can all create instability.

US National Transportation Safety Board data shows turbulence caused more than 200 serious injuries in the US between 2009 and 2024. While fatalities are rare, experts warn that turbulence incidents are becoming more frequent: a trend they link to climate change.

However, not all turbulence is visible. Clear-air turbulence occurs without warning, often near jet streams, and is caused by rapid changes in wind speed or direction.

Japan’s strong jet stream, created when frigid Siberian air collides with warm Pacific currents, makes its skies some of Asia’s bumpiest. Similar patterns affect the North Atlantic Corridor, where warm Gulf Stream air meets cold Canadian air, UK Met Office scientist Piers Buchanan told CNN.

A 2023 study cited by CNN found severe clear-air turbulence over the North Atlantic was 55% more frequent in 2020 than in 1979, with increases of 41% over the continental US. By the end of the century, scientists say it could double or even triple globally.

Thunderstorm turbulence, most common near the equator, can be sudden and intense. While pilots use radar to avoid storms, unpredictable bursts of turbulent air can still occur. Aviation experts believe such conditions may have played a role in the London–Singapore flight incident last year when the plane encountered storms over Myanmar.

Researchers are now examining whether climate change, by increasing atmospheric moisture, could make thunderstorms, and their turbulence, more severe.

(With inputs from CNN)