Are you afraid of flying? Here are the flights with the most turbulence in the world

Worldwide, one in five people are afraid of flying according to a report from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) published in 2023. If you are one of the 20% of travelers who break out in a cold sweat at the idea of spend several hours at altitude, some flights are not (at all) for you. By scanning 10,000 journeys departing from and arriving at the 550 largest airports in the world, the site turbli.com has established its ranking of the flights with the most turbulence in 2024. The short flight of 196 kilometers between Mendoza ( Argentina) and Santiago (Chile), which crosses the Andes, is designated as the one that shakes the most with 23,065 edr (unit of measurement of turbulence) on average. We consider “moderate” turbulence from 20 edr. Still in South America, the road between Cordoba (Argentina) and Santiago, the capital of Chile, should also be avoided for the faint of heart.

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The Argentine domestic flight between Mendoza and Santa, in the mountainous northwest of the country, completes the podium. Still on the South American continent, the route between the two Argentinian cities of Mendoza and San Carlos de Bariloche is also exposed to tremors. After the Andes, the Himalayas are also a region feared by pilots and passengers. The road that connects Kathmandu, the Nepalese capital to Lhasa, Tibet, takes fifth place. The top 10 is completed by Chengdu (China) – Lhasa (Tibet), Santa Cruz (Bolivia) – Santiago (Chile), Kathmandu (Nepal) – Paro (Bhutan), Chengdu (China) – Xining (China) and San Carlos de Bariloche (Argentina) – Santiago (Chile).

Looking at the flights with the most turbulence within the Old Continent, Nice and Lyon appear several times in the European rankings. The prize for the most hectic journey goes to the 299 kilometer flight between Nice and Geneva. The route between Nice and Zurich, 434 kilometers long, takes second place followed by the Milan – Zurich flight. Obviously, taking off from Nice to land in Switzerland is not easy since the Nice – Basel flight comes fifth among the most stressful European journeys. The domestic flight between Nice and Lyon is in 7th place in the ranking of the most exposed flights. The route between Lyon and Zurich is ninth. The routes approaching the Alps are, unsurprisingly, the most exposed to tremors. This is why eight of the ten most turbulent routes in Europe start or end in Switzerland.