Planes overhead in SE3
Greenwich and Lewisham, London. All 757 of its postcodes measured (38 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 SE3. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 56% of days
Up to 143
a day
Of its 757 postcodes:
- 100 or more
- 114
- 10 to 99
- 643
On a day it flies both ways, 15% of days
Up to 70
a day
Of its 757 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 757
On a day it flies east, 29% of days
Up to 1
a day
Of its 757 postcodes:
- under 10
- 757
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SE3 0164 postcodes | 58 at 100+ | 164 at 10 to 99 | 164 under 10 |
| SE3 7168 postcodes | 23 at 100+ | 168 at 10 to 99 | 168 under 10 |
| SE3 8174 postcodes | 174 at 10 to 99 | 174 at 10 to 99 | 174 under 10 |
| SE3 9251 postcodes | 33 at 100+ | 251 at 10 to 99 | 251 under 10 |
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 SE3
SE7 SE10 SE13 SE12 SE9 SE8 SE18 SE4
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.