Planes overhead in SE12
Lewisham, Greenwich and Bromley, London. All 496 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 Greenwich and the planes over Lewisham, 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 SE12. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 56% of days
Up to 117
a day
Of its 496 postcodes:
- 100 or more
- 205
- 10 to 99
- 291
On a day it flies both ways, 15% of days
Up to 68
a day
Of its 496 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 496
On a day it flies east, 29% of days
Up to 34
a day
Of its 496 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 164
- under 10
- 332
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SE12 0173 postcodes | 143 at 100+ | 173 at 10 to 99 | 73 at 10 to 99 |
| SE12 8149 postcodes | 57 at 100+ | 149 at 10 to 99 | 149 under 10 |
| SE12 9174 postcodes | 5 at 100+ | 174 at 10 to 99 | 91 at 10 to 99 |
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 SE12. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 47% of days
Up to 1
a day
Of its 496 postcodes:
- under 10
- 496
On a day it flies both ways, 18% of days
Up to 28
a day
Of its 496 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 84
- on an edge
- 64
- under 10
- 348
On a day it flies east, 35% of days
Up to 62
a day
Of its 496 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 100
- on an edge
- 70
- under 10
- 326
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SE12 0173 postcodes | 173 under 10 | 58 at 10 to 99 | 63 at 10 to 99 |
| SE12 8149 postcodes | 149 under 10 | 149 under 10 | 149 under 10 |
| SE12 9174 postcodes | 174 under 10 | 26 at 10 to 99 | 37 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.
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 SE12
SE9 SE6 SE13 SE3 BR1 SE4 SE7 BR7
The councils
- Lewisham: noise and liveability score
- Greenwich: noise and liveability score
- Bromley: noise and liveability score
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.