Top travel routes where air passengers experience most turbulence

Whether you’re afraid of flying or not, turbulence can be a stressful flight experience.

And while turbulence is nothing to worry about in most cases, there are certain routes on which travellers experience more of it than others.

To start with, it’s worth understanding exactly what turbulence is and why it happens.

Turbulence in aviation is the turbulent movement of air masses that causes the aircraft to vibrate. They arise from the contact of air currents of different directions and speeds, as well as from sudden changes in wind direction and speed.

An interesting fact is that turbulence is most felt at the front and rear of the plane, so if someone is afraid of violent vibrations, they should choose places closer to the center of the plane.

Although they may cause discomfort to passengers, turbulence does not pose a threat to flight safety. Modern aviation technology allows you to effectively avoid places of turbulence, and the principle of fastening seat belts throughout the flight additionally increases the safety of passengers in the event of the so-called clear sky turbulence difficult to predict.

Analysis of approximately 150 thousand air routes conducted by the Turbli portal revealed the most turbulent flight routes in 2023.

The routes were ranked according to the “vortex dissipation coefficient,” which measures the intensity of turbulence in a given location.

The most turbulent air route in the world in 2023 was between Santiago and Santa Cruz, an approximately 1,900 km journey between Chile and Bolivia. The next place was taken by an approximately 250-kilometer route connecting the Kazakh city of Almaty with Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. Two of the 10 routes were in Europe, and six were domestic routes in Japan and China.