Planes overhead in DA5
Bexley, London. 356 of its 425 postcodes measured, the ones in Bexley (14 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 Bexley, council by council.
From London City
Planes land and take off into the wind, so the weather decides which way London City flies, and that decides how many pass over DA5. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 47% of days
Up to 1
a day
Of its 356 postcodes:
- under 10
- 356
On a day it flies both ways, 18% of days
Up to 28
a day
Of its 356 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 161
- on an edge
- 43
- under 10
- 152
On a day it flies east, 35% of days
Up to 61
a day
Of its 356 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 161
- on an edge
- 44
- under 10
- 151
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 west47% of days | Both ways18% of days | Flying east35% of days |
|---|---|---|---|
| DA5 1168 postcodes | 168 under 10 | 16 at 10 to 99 | 16 at 10 to 99 |
| DA5 242 postcodes | 42 under 10 | 42 at 10 to 99 | 42 at 10 to 99 |
| DA5 3146 postcodes | 146 under 10 | 103 at 10 to 99 | 103 at 10 to 99 |
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 DA5. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 56% of days
Up to 3
a day
Of its 356 postcodes:
- under 10
- 356
On a day it flies both ways, 15% of days
Up to 6
a day
Of its 356 postcodes:
- under 10
- 356
On a day it flies east, 29% of days
Up to 10
a day
Of its 356 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 1
- under 10
- 355
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| DA5 1168 postcodes | 168 under 10 | 168 under 10 | 168 under 10 |
| DA5 242 postcodes | 42 under 10 | 42 under 10 | 42 under 10 |
| DA5 3146 postcodes | 146 under 10 | 146 under 10 | 1 at 10 to 99 |
On an edge: the postcode is on the edge of a flight path, where a few metres decide whether a plane counts as overhead, and the fewest and the most within 100 m of it fall in different bands.
Over 168 of its postcodes, other flying passes too, from airfields, helicopters and airports we cannot check against official counts, so few planes from the airports we count does not mean a quiet sky there.
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 DA5
DA14 DA15 DA16 DA17 SE2 DA18 SE9 BR7
The councils
Where these figures come from
Counted from community flight tracking, checked against the CAA's monthly totals for London City and 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.