Planes overhead in SE23
Lewisham and Southwark, London. All 598 of its postcodes measured (27 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 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 SE23. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 56% of days
Up to 203
a day
Of its 598 postcodes:
- 100 or more
- 156
- 10 to 99
- 442
On a day it flies both ways, 15% of days
Up to 105
a day
Of its 598 postcodes:
- 100 or more
- 2
- 10 to 99
- 596
On a day it flies east, 29% of days
Up to 37
a day
Of its 598 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 339
- under 10
- 259
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SE23 1152 postcodes | 117 at 100+ | 152 at 10 to 99 | 19 at 10 to 99 |
| SE23 2204 postcodes | 6 at 100+ | 204 at 10 to 99 | 204 at 10 to 99 |
| SE23 3242 postcodes | 33 at 100+ | 2 at 100+ | 116 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 SE23. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 47% of days
Up to 1
a day
Of its 598 postcodes:
- under 10
- 598
On a day it flies both ways, 18% of days
Up to 28
a day
Of its 598 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 253
- on an edge
- 123
- under 10
- 222
On a day it flies east, 35% of days
Up to 62
a day
Of its 598 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 271
- on an edge
- 129
- under 10
- 198
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SE23 1152 postcodes | 152 under 10 | 64 at 10 to 99 | 74 at 10 to 99 |
| SE23 2204 postcodes | 204 under 10 | 77 at 10 to 99 | 77 at 10 to 99 |
| SE23 3242 postcodes | 242 under 10 | 112 at 10 to 99 | 120 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.
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 SE23
SE26 SE22 SE6 SE4 SE21 SE20 SE13 SE15
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.