Planes overhead in IG1
Redbridge, London. All 833 of its postcodes measured (80 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 Redbridge, council by council.
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 IG1. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 47% of days
Up to 45
a day
Of its 833 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 43
- on an edge
- 25
- under 10
- 765
On a day it flies both ways, 18% of days
Up to 34
a day
Of its 833 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 118
- on an edge
- 13
- under 10
- 702
On a day it flies east, 35% of days
Up to 17
a day
Of its 833 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 526
- on an edge
- 103
- under 10
- 204
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| IG1 1206 postcodes | 206 under 10 | 206 under 10 | 201 at 10 to 99 |
| IG1 2248 postcodes | 248 under 10 | 248 under 10 | 73 at 10 to 99 |
| IG1 3188 postcodes | 43 at 10 to 99 | 63 at 10 to 99 | 65 at 10 to 99 |
| IG1 4169 postcodes | 1 on an edge | 55 at 10 to 99 | 165 at 10 to 99 |
| IG1 922 postcodes | 22 under 10 | 22 under 10 | 22 at 10 to 99 |
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 IG1. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 56% of days
Up to 31
a day
Of its 833 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 798
- under 10
- 35
On a day it flies both ways, 15% of days
Up to 14
a day
Of its 833 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 298
- under 10
- 535
On a day it flies east, 29% of days
Under 1
a day, at all 833 of its postcodes
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| IG1 1206 postcodes | 186 at 10 to 99 | 6 at 10 to 99 | 206 under 10 |
| IG1 2248 postcodes | 247 at 10 to 99 | 160 at 10 to 99 | 248 under 10 |
| IG1 3188 postcodes | 188 at 10 to 99 | 128 at 10 to 99 | 188 under 10 |
| IG1 4169 postcodes | 155 at 10 to 99 | 4 at 10 to 99 | 169 under 10 |
| IG1 922 postcodes | 22 at 10 to 99 | 22 under 10 | 22 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 IG1
E12 IG2 IG3 IG4 IG11 E7 IG5 E6
The councils
Where these figures come from
Counted from community flight tracking, checked against the CAA's monthly totals for London City and 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.