Which routes are most affected by severe turbulence in aircraft?

The recent fatal accident on a Singapore Airlines flight is an ideal opportunity to recall the routes most subject to severe turbulence. However, while it is possible to avoid the most turbulent routes today, the difficulties will be greater in the future. Indeed, global warming is expected to cause a increase in these disturbances in the fairly near future.

Death on Singapore Airlines flight

First of all, let’s remember that turbulence in an airplane occurs when the aircraft crosses a zone of unstable airmainly due to weather fronts and wind shear. However, while they cannot cause crashes on their own, they generate significant cabin anxiety among passengers and lengthen journey times, which represents a significant cost for airlines. Strong shaking can sometimes cause drama inside the planes. On May 21, 2024, Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 from London to Singapore encountered severe turbulence while flying over Burma. The 211 passengers and 18 crew members were tossed around in all directions, resulting in a sad toll: one death and a hundred injuredThe Boeing 777 that was operating the flight was forced to make an emergency landing in Bangkok (Thailand). The airline even affirmed have changed its in-flight safety protocol. From now on, staff will not distribute meals or drinks when the “fasten your seat belts” sign is displayed.
Credits: Ranimiro Lotufo Neto / iStock

The most turbulent air routes

Let us recall that for several months, the platform Turbli offers a global map of turbulence. Furthermore, this same platform published the ranking of the ten connections most affected by turbulence in 2023 after having analyzed more than 150,000 air routes. Here they are: Santiago (Chile) – Santa Cruz Viru Viru (Bolivia)
Almaty (Kazakhstan) – Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan)
Langzhou (China) – Chengdu (China)
Chubu Centrair (Japan) – Sendai (Japan)
Milan (Italy) – Geneva (Switzerland)
Lanzhou (China) – Xianyang (China)
Osaka (Japan) – Sendai (China)
Xiangyang (China) – Chengdu (China)
Xiangyang (China) – Chongqing (China)
Milan (Italy) – Zurich (Switzerland) While it is more or less possible to plan your trip to avoid the most turbulent areas, you should know that turbulence is expected to increase due to global warmingAccording to a study published in 2017, this increase will concern light turbulence (+59%), light to moderate turbulence (+75%), moderate turbulence (+94%), moderate to severe turbulence (+127%) and the most severe (+149%).