The most turbulent flight routes in the world
16,812 routes flown through 6,988 snapshots of the world's weather. On La Serena–Santiago, the bumpiest of them, 51% of the flight time was in bumpy air. On a typical route it is 18%.
Ranked by the share of the flight in bumpy air
Yellow is the share of the flight in light-or-worse bumpy air, orange the part of it that was moderate or worse. Each route shows what causes its bumps and its bumpiest month. Tap one for its live forecast.
- 1 La Serena – Santiago LSC · SCL · 389 km 51%32% moderate
- 2 Nagoya – Sendai NGO · SDJ · 518 km 51%24% moderate
- 3 Tokyo Haneda – Komatsu HND · KMQ · 318 km 51%28% moderate
- 4 Hiroshima – Sendai HIJ · SDJ · 826 km 50%23% moderate
- 5 Osaka Itami – Niigata ITM · KIJ · 482 km 50%23% moderate
- 6 Mendoza – Santiago MDZ · SCL · 196 km 50%26% moderate
- 7 Tokyo Haneda – Toyama HND · TOY · 264 km 50%27% moderate
- 8 Niigata – Nagoya Komaki KIJ · NKM · 358 km 49%26% moderate
- 9 Osaka Kansai – Sendai KIX · SDJ · 655 km 49%22% moderate
- 10 Memanbetsu – Nagoya MMB · NGO · 1,185 km 49%20% moderate
- 11 Fukuoka – Sendai FUK · SDJ · 1,070 km 49%22% moderate
- 12 Puerto Montt – Santiago PMC · SCL · 918 km 49%25% moderate
- 13 Osaka Itami – Sendai ITM · SDJ · 616 km 49%22% moderate
- 14 Sendai – Kobe SDJ · UKB · 641 km 48%22% moderate
- 15 Sapporo – Shizuoka CTS · FSZ · 937 km 48%20% moderate
- 16 Tokyo Haneda – Osaka Kansai HND · KIX · 432 km 48%22% moderate
- 17 Tokyo Haneda – Matsuyama HND · MYJ · 675 km 48%21% moderate
- 18 Tokyo Haneda – Kumamoto HND · KMJ · 875 km 47%21% moderate
- 19 Asahikawa – Tokyo Haneda AKJ · HND · 931 km 47%19% moderate
- 20 Matsuyama – Tokyo Narita MYJ · NRT · 734 km 47%21% moderate
- 21 Tokyo Haneda – Oita HND · OIT · 772 km 47%21% moderate
- 22 Sapporo – Memanbetsu CTS · MMB · 235 km 47%24% moderate
- 23 Tokyo Haneda – Kobe HND · UKB · 427 km 47%21% moderate
- 24 Tokyo Narita – Oita NRT · OIT · 831 km 47%21% moderate
- 25 Aomori – Nagoya Komaki AOJ · NKM · 693 km 47%19% moderate
United States Europe Asia Australia and New Zealand South America
Short hops under fast winds, over high ground
The top of the list is not long-haul. A long flight spends hours in calm air on either side of its bumpy stretch, which dilutes its share; a short flight that crosses one bad patch spends a large part of its time in it. That is why the routes that rank highest are mostly one- and two-hour hops.
What those hops have in common is where they fly. Most sit under the jet stream at its strongest, where the wind changes speed sharply with height and the air between the layers churns. The rest cross mountain ranges, where strong wind over high ground sets up waves that reach cruise height. The cause is shown on every route.
The share is an average over every day, season and time of day. On any one flight the ride can be glassy or much bumpier than the number suggests: winter is worse on most of these routes, and the forecast for your date tells you far more than the ranking.
The most turbulent long-haul routes
Over 4,000 km, the bumpiest routes are the ones that ride the jet stream for hours rather than crossing it.
- 1 Los Angeles – Taipei Taoyuan LAX · TPE · 10,922 km 30%10% moderate
- 2 San Francisco – Taipei Taoyuan SFO · TPE · 10,391 km 30%10% moderate
- 3 Osaka Kansai – San Francisco KIX · SFO · 8,692 km 30%11% moderate
- 4 Tokyo Haneda – San Francisco HND · SFO · 8,285 km 29%11% moderate
- 5 Tokyo Narita – San Francisco NRT · SFO · 8,227 km 29%11% moderate
- 6 Tokyo Narita – San Jose NRT · SJC · 8,276 km 29%11% moderate
- 7 Honolulu – Seoul HNL · ICN · 7,353 km 29%9% moderate
- 8 Los Angeles – Tokyo Narita LAX · NRT · 8,753 km 29%10% moderate
- 9 Tokyo Haneda – Los Angeles HND · LAX · 8,812 km 29%10% moderate
- 10 Newark – Porto EWR · OPO · 5,361 km 28%10% moderate
The most turbulent medium-haul routes
Between 1,500 and 4,000 km.
- 1 Nanjing – Tokyo Narita NKG · NRT · 2,035 km 44%18% moderate
- 2 Tokyo Narita – Qingdao NRT · TAO · 1,823 km 44%18% moderate
- 3 Tokyo Haneda – Shanghai Hongqiao HND · SHA · 1,777 km 44%18% moderate
- 4 Ibaraki – Shanghai Pudong IBR · PVG · 1,808 km 44%18% moderate
- 5 Tokyo Narita – Shenyang NRT · SHE · 1,602 km 43%18% moderate
- 6 Hangzhou – Tokyo Narita HGH · NRT · 1,956 km 43%17% moderate
- 7 Tokyo Narita – Shanghai Pudong NRT · PVG · 1,796 km 43%18% moderate
- 8 Dalian – Tokyo Narita DLC · NRT · 1,700 km 43%17% moderate
- 9 Sendai – Taipei Taoyuan SDJ · TPE · 2,354 km 42%16% moderate
- 10 Punta Arenas – Santiago PUQ · SCL · 2,180 km 42%17% moderate
The smoothest routes in the world
All near the equator: Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, East Africa and Colombia, with no jet stream overhead.
- 1 Bali – Mataram DPS · LOP · 122 km 0%0% moderate
- 2 Kavieng – Manus KVG · MAS · 380 km 0%0% moderate
- 3 Madang – Manus MAG · MAS · 394 km 0%0% moderate
- 4 Vanimo – Wewak VAI · WWK · 281 km 0%0% moderate
- 5 Kuantan – Singapore KUA · SIN · 283 km 1%0% moderate
- 6 Mombasa – Zanzibar MBA · ZNZ · 247 km 1%0% moderate
- 7 Kuala Lumpur – Singapore KUL · SIN · 297 km 1%0% moderate
- 8 Bucaramanga – Bogota BGA · BOG · 290 km 1%0% moderate
- 9 Johor Bahru – Kuala Lumpur JHB · KUL · 250 km 1%0% moderate
- 10 Jakarta – Bandar Lampung CGK · TKG · 190 km 1%0% moderate
Questions about the most turbulent routes
Which flight route has the most turbulence?
La Serena–Santiago, with 51% of its flight time in light-or-worse bumpy air across every snapshot in the report. The rest of the top 25 is above.
Which long-haul route is the most turbulent?
Los Angeles–Taipei Taoyuan, with 30% of the flight in bumpy air. Long flights rank lower overall because hours of calm air dilute their bumpy stretch.
Is the North Atlantic the most turbulent ocean crossing?
It is among the bumpiest because it sits under the jet stream, especially in winter, but it is not where the top of the ranking is. A transatlantic flight spends most of its time in smooth air, and crews pick their track each day around the worst of it.
Should I avoid the routes on this list?
There is no safety reason to. These routes are flown every day by every kind of airliner. The list tells you where to expect bumps and to keep your seatbelt fastened, and the forecast for your date tells you whether that day is a bumpy one.
Why is my bumpy flight not on the list?
A single flight can be much bumpier than its route's average: a storm, a strong jet stream that day. The ranking is the long-run picture. And routes with very little service are not ranked, so a quiet regional route will not appear even if it is bumpy.
A ranking is the average. Your flight is one day.
FlyBud forecasts the turbulence along your actual route, at your actual time, and updates it as new weather comes in.