Planes overhead in E1
Tower Hamlets, City of London and Hackney, London. All 1,476 of its postcodes measured (40 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 Tower Hamlets, 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 E1. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 56% of days
Up to 104
a day
Of its 1,476 postcodes:
- 100 or more
- 18
- 10 to 99
- 1,458
On a day it flies both ways, 15% of days
Up to 66
a day
Of its 1,476 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 1,476
On a day it flies east, 29% of days
Up to 1
a day
Of its 1,476 postcodes:
- under 10
- 1,476
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| E1 0180 postcodes | 16 at 100+ | 180 at 10 to 99 | 180 under 10 |
| E1 1152 postcodes | 152 at 10 to 99 | 152 at 10 to 99 | 152 under 10 |
| E1 2169 postcodes | 169 at 10 to 99 | 169 at 10 to 99 | 169 under 10 |
| E1 3140 postcodes | 140 at 10 to 99 | 140 at 10 to 99 | 140 under 10 |
| E1 4248 postcodes | 2 at 100+ | 248 at 10 to 99 | 248 under 10 |
| E1 5173 postcodes | 173 at 10 to 99 | 173 at 10 to 99 | 173 under 10 |
| E1 6139 postcodes | 139 at 10 to 99 | 139 at 10 to 99 | 139 under 10 |
| E1 7101 postcodes | 101 at 10 to 99 | 101 at 10 to 99 | 101 under 10 |
| E1 8174 postcodes | 174 at 10 to 99 | 174 at 10 to 99 | 174 under 10 |
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 E1. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 47% of days
Up to 15
a day
Of its 1,476 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 1
- on an edge
- 2
- under 10
- 1,473
On a day it flies both ways, 18% of days
Up to 29
a day
Of its 1,476 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 317
- on an edge
- 211
- under 10
- 948
On a day it flies east, 35% of days
Up to 64
a day
Of its 1,476 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 322
- on an edge
- 219
- under 10
- 935
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| E1 0180 postcodes | 180 under 10 | 82 at 10 to 99 | 87 at 10 to 99 |
| E1 1152 postcodes | 152 under 10 | 44 at 10 to 99 | 44 at 10 to 99 |
| E1 2169 postcodes | 169 under 10 | 50 at 10 to 99 | 50 at 10 to 99 |
| E1 3140 postcodes | 140 under 10 | 6 on an edge | 6 on an edge |
| E1 4248 postcodes | 1 at 10 to 99 | 248 under 10 | 248 under 10 |
| E1 5173 postcodes | 173 under 10 | 173 under 10 | 173 under 10 |
| E1 6139 postcodes | 139 under 10 | 1 on an edge | 1 on an edge |
| E1 7101 postcodes | 101 under 10 | 17 on an edge | 27 on an edge |
| E1 8174 postcodes | 174 under 10 | 141 at 10 to 99 | 141 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.
1 of its postcodes have a position ONS estimates, so their figures may be for a spot a few hundred metres away.
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 E1
E1W EC3N E2 EC3A EC2M EC3M EC2A EC2N
The councils
- Tower Hamlets: noise and liveability score
- City of London: noise and liveability score
- Hackney: noise and liveability score
Where these figures come from
Counted from community flight tracking, checked against the CAA's monthly totals for Heathrow and London City. 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.