Planes overhead in EC2M
City of London, Islington, Hackney and Tower Hamlets, London. All 120 of its postcodes measured (42 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 City of London, 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 EC2M. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 56% of days
Up to 36
a day
Of its 120 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 120
On a day it flies both ways, 15% of days
Up to 26
a day
Of its 120 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 120
On a day it flies east, 29% of days
Up to 1
a day
Of its 120 postcodes:
- under 10
- 120
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| EC2M 112 postcodes | 12 at 10 to 99 | 12 at 10 to 99 | 12 under 10 |
| EC2M 220 postcodes | 20 at 10 to 99 | 20 at 10 to 99 | 20 under 10 |
| EC2M 311 postcodes | 11 at 10 to 99 | 11 at 10 to 99 | 11 under 10 |
| EC2M 431 postcodes | 31 at 10 to 99 | 31 at 10 to 99 | 31 under 10 |
| EC2M 520 postcodes | 20 at 10 to 99 | 20 at 10 to 99 | 20 under 10 |
| EC2M 67 postcodes | 7 at 10 to 99 | 7 at 10 to 99 | 7 under 10 |
| EC2M 719 postcodes | 19 at 10 to 99 | 19 at 10 to 99 | 19 under 10 |
Also counted here: London City, at most 1 a day over any of its postcodes.
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 EC2M
EC2N EC3A EC2R EC3V EC2A EC3M EC2Y EC2V
The councils
- City of London: noise and liveability score
- Islington: noise and liveability score
- Hackney: noise and liveability score
- Tower Hamlets: noise and liveability score
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.