Planes overhead in E16
Newham, London. All 1,020 of its postcodes measured (43 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 Newham, 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 E16. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 56% of days
Up to 151
a day
Of its 1,020 postcodes:
- 100 or more
- 688
- 10 to 99
- 332
On a day it flies both ways, 15% of days
Up to 86
a day
Of its 1,020 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 1,020
On a day it flies east, 29% of days
Up to 1
a day
Of its 1,020 postcodes:
- under 10
- 1,020
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| E16 1313 postcodes | 309 at 100+ | 313 at 10 to 99 | 313 under 10 |
| E16 2338 postcodes | 72 at 100+ | 338 at 10 to 99 | 338 under 10 |
| E16 3201 postcodes | 139 at 100+ | 201 at 10 to 99 | 201 under 10 |
| E16 4168 postcodes | 168 at 100+ | 168 at 10 to 99 | 168 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 E16. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 47% of days
Up to 64
a day
Of its 1,020 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 146
- on an edge
- 152
- under 10
- 722
On a day it flies both ways, 18% of days
Up to 70
a day
Of its 1,020 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 143
- on an edge
- 153
- under 10
- 724
On a day it flies east, 35% of days
Up to 65
a day
Of its 1,020 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 25
- on an edge
- 152
- under 10
- 843
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| E16 1313 postcodes | 135 at 10 to 99 | 127 at 10 to 99 | 2 at 10 to 99 |
| E16 2338 postcodes | 10 at 10 to 99 | 16 at 10 to 99 | 23 at 10 to 99 |
| E16 3201 postcodes | 1 at 10 to 99 | 22 on an edge | 201 under 10 |
| E16 4168 postcodes | 168 under 10 | 168 under 10 | 168 under 10 |
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 E16
E13 E6 SE7 E14 SE10 E15 SE18 E7
The councils
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.