Planes overhead in E2
Tower Hamlets and Hackney, London. All 932 of its postcodes measured (47 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 Hackney and 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 E2. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 56% of days
Up to 83
a day
Of its 932 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 932
On a day it flies both ways, 15% of days
Up to 53
a day
Of its 932 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 932
On a day it flies east, 29% of days
Up to 1
a day
Of its 932 postcodes:
- under 10
- 932
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| E2 0194 postcodes | 194 at 10 to 99 | 194 at 10 to 99 | 194 under 10 |
| E2 6192 postcodes | 192 at 10 to 99 | 192 at 10 to 99 | 192 under 10 |
| E2 7177 postcodes | 177 at 10 to 99 | 177 at 10 to 99 | 177 under 10 |
| E2 8191 postcodes | 191 at 10 to 99 | 191 at 10 to 99 | 191 under 10 |
| E2 9178 postcodes | 178 at 10 to 99 | 178 at 10 to 99 | 178 under 10 |
Also counted here: London City, at most 3 a day over any of its postcodes.
6 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 E2
E1 EC2A E8 EC2M EC3A EC1Y E9 EC2N
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.