Planes overhead in CR8
Croydon and Sutton, London. 762 of its 774 postcodes measured, the ones in Croydon and Sutton (29 PO boxes and other large-user postcodes left out), January to August 2026.
For Heathrow's expansion consultation, open until 22 December 2026: the planes over Croydon, council by council.
From Heathrow
Planes land and take off into the wind, so the weather decides which way Heathrow flies, and that decides how many pass over CR8. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 56% of days
Up to 40
a day
Of its 762 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 642
- under 10
- 120
On a day it flies both ways, 15% of days
Up to 24
a day
Of its 762 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 326
- under 10
- 436
On a day it flies east, 29% of days
Up to 2
a day
Of its 762 postcodes:
- under 10
- 762
Each sector's bar splits its postcodes by how many planes pass over them a day; the figure above it counts those in the busiest band the sector reaches. The list above gives the whole district's counts.
| Sector | Flying west56% of days | Both ways15% of days | Flying east29% of days |
|---|---|---|---|
| CR8 1113 postcodes | 65 at 10 to 99 | 32 at 10 to 99 | 113 under 10 |
| CR8 2191 postcodes | 152 at 10 to 99 | 130 at 10 to 99 | 191 under 10 |
| CR8 3151 postcodes | 146 at 10 to 99 | 114 at 10 to 99 | 151 under 10 |
| CR8 4131 postcodes | 103 at 10 to 99 | 34 at 10 to 99 | 131 under 10 |
| CR8 5176 postcodes | 176 at 10 to 99 | 16 at 10 to 99 | 176 under 10 |
What counts as overhead
Overhead means more than halfway up the sky (48.5 degrees or more) and below 7,000 ft, the CAA's definition of an overflight (CAP 1498). A day counts as one way when 80% of its flights used that way. PO boxes and other postcodes for organisations that receive a lot of post are left out: they sit at a delivery office or a business, not at homes.
Near CR8
CR5 CR2 SM6 CR0 SM5 SM2 SM1 CR7
The councils
Where these figures come from
Counted from community flight tracking, checked against the CAA's monthly totals for Heathrow. Flight tracks: adsb.lol (ODbL 1.0); Weather at each airport: Iowa Environmental Mesonet; Ground heights: Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right; Postcode positions: ONS National Statistics Postcode Lookup (OGL). Licence: Open Database License (ODbL) 1.0.