Planes overhead in SE1
Southwark and Lambeth, London. All 1,856 of its postcodes measured (152 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 Lambeth and the planes over Southwark, 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 SE1. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 56% of days
Up to 272
a day
Of its 1,856 postcodes:
- 100 or more
- 230
- 10 to 99
- 1,625
- on an edge
- 1
On a day it flies both ways, 15% of days
Up to 155
a day
Of its 1,856 postcodes:
- 100 or more
- 92
- 10 to 99
- 1,763
- on an edge
- 1
On a day it flies east, 29% of days
Up to 3
a day
Of its 1,856 postcodes:
- under 10
- 1,856
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SE1 0171 postcodes | 171 at 10 to 99 | 171 at 10 to 99 | 171 under 10 |
| SE1 1148 postcodes | 148 at 10 to 99 | 148 at 10 to 99 | 148 under 10 |
| SE1 2206 postcodes | 1 at 100+ | 206 at 10 to 99 | 206 under 10 |
| SE1 3238 postcodes | 16 at 100+ | 238 at 10 to 99 | 238 under 10 |
| SE1 4229 postcodes | 2 at 100+ | 229 at 10 to 99 | 229 under 10 |
| SE1 5216 postcodes | 210 at 100+ | 92 at 100+ | 216 under 10 |
| SE1 6147 postcodes | 147 at 10 to 99 | 147 at 10 to 99 | 147 under 10 |
| SE1 7195 postcodes | 194 at 10 to 99 | 194 at 10 to 99 | 195 under 10 |
| SE1 8165 postcodes | 165 at 10 to 99 | 165 at 10 to 99 | 165 under 10 |
| SE1 9141 postcodes | 1 at 100+ | 141 at 10 to 99 | 141 under 10 |
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 SE1. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 47% of days
Up to 1
a day
Of its 1,856 postcodes:
- under 10
- 1,856
On a day it flies both ways, 18% of days
Up to 28
a day
Of its 1,856 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 637
- on an edge
- 353
- under 10
- 866
On a day it flies east, 35% of days
Up to 63
a day
Of its 1,856 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 672
- on an edge
- 330
- under 10
- 854
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SE1 0171 postcodes | 171 under 10 | 170 at 10 to 99 | 170 at 10 to 99 |
| SE1 1148 postcodes | 148 under 10 | 115 at 10 to 99 | 125 at 10 to 99 |
| SE1 2206 postcodes | 206 under 10 | 19 at 10 to 99 | 22 at 10 to 99 |
| SE1 3238 postcodes | 238 under 10 | 33 on an edge | 33 on an edge |
| SE1 4229 postcodes | 229 under 10 | 45 on an edge | 53 on an edge |
| SE1 5216 postcodes | 216 under 10 | 216 under 10 | 216 under 10 |
| SE1 6147 postcodes | 147 under 10 | 28 at 10 to 99 | 28 at 10 to 99 |
| SE1 7195 postcodes | 195 under 10 | 125 at 10 to 99 | 143 at 10 to 99 |
| SE1 8165 postcodes | 165 under 10 | 89 at 10 to 99 | 93 at 10 to 99 |
| SE1 9141 postcodes | 141 under 10 | 91 at 10 to 99 | 91 at 10 to 99 |
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.
8 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 SE1
SE17 EC4R EC3R EC4N EC3M EC4V EC3V EC3N
The councils
Where these figures come from
Counted from community flight tracking, checked against the CAA's monthly totals for Heathrow and London City. 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.