Planes overhead in E9
Hackney and Tower Hamlets, London. All 661 of its postcodes measured (23 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 E9. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 56% of days
Up to 180
a day
Of its 661 postcodes:
- 100 or more
- 461
- 10 to 99
- 200
On a day it flies both ways, 15% of days
Up to 106
a day
Of its 661 postcodes:
- 100 or more
- 37
- 10 to 99
- 624
On a day it flies east, 29% of days
Up to 2
a day
Of its 661 postcodes:
- under 10
- 661
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| E9 5280 postcodes | 280 at 100+ | 37 at 100+ | 280 under 10 |
| E9 6191 postcodes | 157 at 100+ | 191 at 10 to 99 | 191 under 10 |
| E9 7190 postcodes | 24 at 100+ | 190 at 10 to 99 | 190 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 E9. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 47% of days
Up to 61
a day
Of its 661 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 130
- on an edge
- 22
- under 10
- 509
On a day it flies both ways, 18% of days
Up to 35
a day
Of its 661 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 132
- on an edge
- 13
- under 10
- 516
On a day it flies east, 35% of days
Up to 1
a day
Of its 661 postcodes:
- under 10
- 661
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| E9 5280 postcodes | 130 at 10 to 99 | 132 at 10 to 99 | 280 under 10 |
| E9 6191 postcodes | 191 under 10 | 191 under 10 | 191 under 10 |
| E9 7190 postcodes | 190 under 10 | 190 under 10 | 190 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.
4 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 E9
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.