The Most Turbulent Flight Routes in the World

• A turbulence tracking company mined data to identify the most turbulent flights in the world.
• The most turbulent flight is a one-hour journey from Mendoza, Argentina, to Santiago, Chile.
• The route passes over the Andes mountain.

A couple of jolts and bumps during a flight is expected, but certain routes have more than their fair share of stomach-dropping turbulence. A study from turbulence tracking company Turbli, reviewed turbulence forecast data from NOAA and the UK Met Office, to identify the most unstable flight routes in the world.

At No. 1 is the flight between Mendoza, Argentina, and Santiago, Chile, which has an eddy dissipation rate (EDR)—EDR is a measurement of turbulence intensity—of 24.684. That’s a full 4 EDR more than the second most turbulent flight route in the world, which is the flight between Cordoba, Argentina, and Santiago, Chile.

Most often, turbulence is the result of weather or geographical features. The latter is most certainly the cause of the turbulence between Mendoza’s El Plumerillo International Airport (MDZ) and Santiago’s Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport (SCL). The one-hour flight passes directly over the Andes mountain range, which forces air to rise, creating waves and currents that lead to turbulence up in the sky. The effect mountains have on the air above them even has an ominous nickname: “mountain wave.”

Interestingly enough, the top four most turbulent flights originate in Argentina.

Coming in at No. 5 is the flight passing over the Himalayas between Kathmandu, Nepal’s Tribhuvan International Airport (KTM) and Lhasa, China’s Lhasa Gonggar Airport (LXA).

Here is the full rundown of the most turbulent flight routes in the world in 2024: 

1. Mendoza (MDZ) – Santiago (SCL)  
   EDR: 24.684 
2. Cordoba (COR) – Santiago (SCL) 
   EDR: 20.214 
3. Mendoza (MDZ) – Salta (SLA) 
   EDR: 19.825 
4. Mendoza (MDZ) – San Carlos de Bariloche (BRC) 
   EDR: 19.252 
5. Kathmandu (KTM) – Lhasa (LXA) 
   EDR: 18.817 
6. Chengdu (CTU) – Lhasa (LXA) 
   EDR: 18.644 
7. Santa Cruz (VVI) – Santiago (SCL) 
   EDR: 18.598 
8. Kathmandu (KTM) – Paro (PBH) 
   EDR: 18.563 
9. Chengdu (CTU) – Xining (XNN) 
   EDR: 18.482 
10. San Carlos de Bariloche (BRC) – Santiago (SCL) 
    EDR: 18.475