Planes overhead in N5
Islington and Hackney, London. All 396 of its postcodes measured (18 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 Islington, 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 N5. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 56% of days
Up to 126
a day
Of its 396 postcodes:
- 100 or more
- 58
- 10 to 99
- 338
On a day it flies both ways, 15% of days
Up to 80
a day
Of its 396 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 396
On a day it flies east, 29% of days
Up to 2
a day
Of its 396 postcodes:
- under 10
- 396
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| N5 1206 postcodes | 16 at 100+ | 206 at 10 to 99 | 206 under 10 |
| N5 2190 postcodes | 42 at 100+ | 190 at 10 to 99 | 190 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 N5
The councils
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.