Planes overhead in M33
Trafford and Manchester, Greater Manchester. All 1,514 of its postcodes measured (41 PO boxes and other large-user postcodes left out), January to August 2026.
From Manchester
Planes land and take off into the wind, so the weather decides which way Manchester flies, and that decides how many pass over M33. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 70% of days
Up to 24
a day
Of its 1,514 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 1,467
- under 10
- 47
On a day it flies both ways, 10% of days
Up to 39
a day
Of its 1,514 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 1,514
On a day it flies east, 20% of days
Up to 71
a day
Of its 1,514 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 1,514
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 west70% of days | Both ways10% of days | Flying east20% of days |
|---|---|---|---|
| M33 2309 postcodes | 262 at 10 to 99 | 309 at 10 to 99 | 309 at 10 to 99 |
| M33 3295 postcodes | 295 at 10 to 99 | 295 at 10 to 99 | 295 at 10 to 99 |
| M33 4270 postcodes | 270 at 10 to 99 | 270 at 10 to 99 | 270 at 10 to 99 |
| M33 5279 postcodes | 279 at 10 to 99 | 279 at 10 to 99 | 279 at 10 to 99 |
| M33 6178 postcodes | 178 at 10 to 99 | 178 at 10 to 99 | 178 at 10 to 99 |
| M33 7183 postcodes | 183 at 10 to 99 | 183 at 10 to 99 | 183 at 10 to 99 |
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 M33
M23 M32 WA15 M21 WA14 M41 M17 M16
The councils
Where these figures come from
Counted from community flight tracking, checked against the CAA's monthly totals for Manchester. 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.