The world’s most turbulent flights revealed

01.11.25

In travel news this week: misbehavior on planes, secrets of a cruise ship doctor and the flight routes that were most prone to turbulence in 2024.

By Maureen O'Hare

🛩️ Bumpy rides

The Andes can cause bumpy flights out of Mendoza, Argentina. (guido__aguero/500px/500px/Getty Images)

Turbulence on flights is usually caused by mountains, storms or powerful jet stream currents, so it's not surprising that rocky ranges feature prominently in a new list of flight routes that had the most turbulence in 2024, according to tracker site Turbli.com.

The Andes in South America and the Himalayas in Asia are a recurring factor in the bumpy routes featured in its top 10, which is based on data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the UK Met Office.

Having analyzed 10,000 routes connecting 550 of the world's largest airports, it found the route most prone to turbulence was the 196-kilometer (122-mile) trip between Mendoza (MDZ) and Santiago (SCL).

The journey starts in Argentina's stunning Mendoza region, famous for wine, olive oil and outdoor pursuits such as mountaineering, rafting and horse riding. It then flies west over the Andes to Santiago, the Chilean capital, which sits in a valley surrounded by the snowy Andean peaks and the Chilean Coastal Range.

Last year is now officially the hottest year on record, with scientific analyses saying that is playing a role in recent extreme weather events, with the LA wildfires being the latest example. (Find out here how you can help residents affected by the unprecedented fires).

Rising temperatures might also contribute to an increase in severe "clear air" turbulence, which strikes fast and offers no visual cues. While incidents are predicted to rise, experts say it doesn't mean flying will be less safe.

✈️ People and planes

There's been plenty of travel-based misbehavior this month already, with a JetBlue passenger arrested for opening the emergency exit door on a plane, a man caught with a crocodile skull in his luggage in Delhi and a woman stopped in Germany with 90 kilos (nearly 200 pounds) of luxury chocolate from Dubai. Read more here about the viral treat that people are going crazy for.

Irish airline Ryanair is cracking down hard on unruly passengers by suing a traveler for $15,000 in damages following "unnecessary disruption" on a flight from Dublin to Lanzarote in Spain last year.

However, there have been recent heartwarming tales as well. In December, a United Airlines pilot raced through a Texas airport to surprise an old friend: the woman who saved his life.

And in October, a Delta Air Lines crew – and a plane full of well-wishing passengers – helped reunite a mother and daughter for a precious final goodbye. "It wasn't one person who did one huge thing, it was a lot of people doing a really nice thing," says daughter Hannah White.

💪🏽 Health and well-being

Plenty of idyllically located Italian villages with aging populations have been making headlines in recent years, most often for the boom in one-euro homes.

Now a little town in the southern region of Calabria has taken the unusual step of banning its residents from falling ill. It's home to a beautiful hilltop castle, but its mayor says its health-care facilities are less of an attraction.

Becoming sick at sea is another hazard few think about in advance. CNN Travel took a look at the life of a cruise ship doctor, from heart attacks to dealing with death.

In Germany, doctors can prescribe four-week spa breaks to frazzled parents. The country has a long history of what is called "Kur," which translates as "cure" and often consists of getaways aimed at alleviating maladies.

To help you avoid ailments including blood clots and deep-vein thrombosis when traveling, compression socks are a great idea. Our partners at CNN Underscored, a product reviews and recommendations guide owned by CNN, have this guide to some of the best on the market, according to a physical therapist.

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