Planes overhead in E8
Hackney and Islington, London. All 697 of its postcodes measured (34 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, 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 E8. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 56% of days
Up to 131
a day
Of its 697 postcodes:
- 100 or more
- 128
- 10 to 99
- 569
On a day it flies both ways, 15% of days
Up to 82
a day
Of its 697 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 697
On a day it flies east, 29% of days
Up to 1
a day
Of its 697 postcodes:
- under 10
- 697
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| E8 1137 postcodes | 52 at 100+ | 137 at 10 to 99 | 137 under 10 |
| E8 2154 postcodes | 76 at 100+ | 154 at 10 to 99 | 154 under 10 |
| E8 3226 postcodes | 226 at 10 to 99 | 226 at 10 to 99 | 226 under 10 |
| E8 4180 postcodes | 180 at 10 to 99 | 180 at 10 to 99 | 180 under 10 |
2 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 E8
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.