Whether it’s a quick two-hour hop or a lengthy long-haul journey, any flight can experience turbulence, but usually it’s not too serious.
However, in May 2024 a 73-year-old British passenger on a London – Singapore flight sadly died as a consequence of the turbulence (for the first time since 1997).
We covered a list of the world’s most turbulent flight paths, but now, it’s Europe’s turn. Turbulence tracking website Turbli has used ‘eddy dissipation rates’ (EDR, a measure of turbulence at any given spot ranging from 0-100) to rank the most turbulent paths, and it’s (drum roll, please) the route between Nice and Geneva.
It has an EDR of 16.07, but according to euronews, anything under 20 is still considered ‘light’, so if you’re an anxious flyer travelling this path soon, there’s no need to fret. Nice to Zurich came in second, and Zurich to Milan came in third.
What actually causes turbulence? Well, a handful of factors can be involved: atmospheric wind patterns, the wakes of other aeroplanes and ‘mechanical turbulence’ (common when travelling over mountains).
And in Europe, the Alps are quite a common trigger – in fact, eight of the 10 most turbulent paths either start or end in Switzerland.
These were the most turbulent flight routes in Europe last year
- Nice – Geneva
- Nice – Zurich
- Milan – Zurich
- Milan – Lyon
- Nice – Basel
- Geneva – Zurich
- Nice – Lyon
- Geneva – Venice
- Lyon – Zurich
- Venice – Zurich
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