Planes overhead in M41
Trafford, Greater Manchester. All 990 of its postcodes measured (30 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 M41. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 70% of days
Up to 19
a day
Of its 990 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 759
- under 10
- 231
On a day it flies both ways, 10% of days
Up to 28
a day
Of its 990 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 973
- under 10
- 17
On a day it flies east, 20% of days
Up to 46
a day
Of its 990 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 973
- under 10
- 17
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| M41 0145 postcodes | 49 at 10 to 99 | 145 at 10 to 99 | 145 at 10 to 99 |
| M41 5163 postcodes | 163 at 10 to 99 | 163 at 10 to 99 | 163 at 10 to 99 |
| M41 6161 postcodes | 161 at 10 to 99 | 161 at 10 to 99 | 161 at 10 to 99 |
| M41 7141 postcodes | 37 at 10 to 99 | 124 at 10 to 99 | 124 at 10 to 99 |
| M41 8162 postcodes | 155 at 10 to 99 | 162 at 10 to 99 | 162 at 10 to 99 |
| M41 9218 postcodes | 194 at 10 to 99 | 218 at 10 to 99 | 218 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.
Over 2 of its postcodes, other flying passes too, from airfields, helicopters and airports we cannot check against official counts, so few planes from the airports we count does not mean a quiet sky there.
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 M41
M17 M32 M30 M44 M33 M31 M21 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.