Planes overhead in SE6
Lewisham, London. All 817 of its postcodes measured (46 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 SE6. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 56% of days
Up to 131
a day
Of its 817 postcodes:
- 100 or more
- 634
- 10 to 99
- 183
On a day it flies both ways, 15% of days
Up to 76
a day
Of its 817 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 817
On a day it flies east, 29% of days
Up to 50
a day
Of its 817 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 514
- under 10
- 303
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SE6 1223 postcodes | 223 at 100+ | 223 at 10 to 99 | 159 at 10 to 99 |
| SE6 2179 postcodes | 179 at 100+ | 179 at 10 to 99 | 93 at 10 to 99 |
| SE6 3183 postcodes | 52 at 100+ | 183 at 10 to 99 | 178 at 10 to 99 |
| SE6 4214 postcodes | 162 at 100+ | 214 at 10 to 99 | 84 at 10 to 99 |
| SE6 918 postcodes | 18 at 100+ | 18 at 10 to 99 | 18 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 SE6. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 47% of days
Up to 1
a day
Of its 817 postcodes:
- under 10
- 817
On a day it flies both ways, 18% of days
Up to 28
a day
Of its 817 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 301
- on an edge
- 180
- under 10
- 336
On a day it flies east, 35% of days
Up to 62
a day
Of its 817 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 301
- on an edge
- 184
- 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 west47% of days | Both ways18% of days | Flying east35% of days |
|---|---|---|---|
| SE6 1223 postcodes | 223 under 10 | 140 at 10 to 99 | 140 at 10 to 99 |
| SE6 2179 postcodes | 179 under 10 | 69 at 10 to 99 | 69 at 10 to 99 |
| SE6 3183 postcodes | 183 under 10 | 22 at 10 to 99 | 22 at 10 to 99 |
| SE6 4214 postcodes | 214 under 10 | 70 at 10 to 99 | 70 at 10 to 99 |
| SE6 918 postcodes | 18 under 10 | 18 on an edge | 18 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.
2 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 SE6
SE23 SE13 SE12 SE4 SE26 BR3 BR1 SE20
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.