Planes overhead in SE26
Lewisham, Bromley and Southwark, London. All 608 of its postcodes measured (21 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 Bromley 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 SE26. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 56% of days
Up to 79
a day
Of its 608 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 608
On a day it flies both ways, 15% of days
Up to 67
a day
Of its 608 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 608
On a day it flies east, 29% of days
Up to 66
a day
Of its 608 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 608
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SE26 4191 postcodes | 191 at 10 to 99 | 191 at 10 to 99 | 191 at 10 to 99 |
| SE26 5179 postcodes | 179 at 10 to 99 | 179 at 10 to 99 | 179 at 10 to 99 |
| SE26 6238 postcodes | 238 at 10 to 99 | 238 at 10 to 99 | 238 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 SE26. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 47% of days
Under 1
a day, at all 608 of its postcodes
On a day it flies both ways, 18% of days
Up to 28
a day
Of its 608 postcodes:
- on an edge
- 2
- under 10
- 606
On a day it flies east, 35% of days
Up to 61
a day
Of its 608 postcodes:
- on an edge
- 7
- under 10
- 601
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SE26 4191 postcodes | 191 under 10 | 1 on an edge | 4 on an edge |
| SE26 5179 postcodes | 179 under 10 | 179 under 10 | 179 under 10 |
| SE26 6238 postcodes | 238 under 10 | 1 on an edge | 3 on an edge |
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 SE26
SE23 SE20 SE19 SE21 SE6 BR3 SE22 SE27
The councils
- Lewisham: noise and liveability score
- Bromley: noise and liveability score
- Southwark: 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.