Planes overhead in SE9
Greenwich, Bromley, Lewisham and Bexley, London. All 1,168 of its postcodes measured (41 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 Greenwich, 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 SE9. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 56% of days
Up to 85
a day
Of its 1,168 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 1,164
- under 10
- 4
On a day it flies both ways, 15% of days
Up to 56
a day
Of its 1,168 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 1,076
- under 10
- 92
On a day it flies east, 29% of days
Up to 35
a day
Of its 1,168 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 460
- under 10
- 708
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SE9 1197 postcodes | 197 at 10 to 99 | 186 at 10 to 99 | 197 under 10 |
| SE9 2177 postcodes | 173 at 10 to 99 | 96 at 10 to 99 | 15 at 10 to 99 |
| SE9 3222 postcodes | 222 at 10 to 99 | 222 at 10 to 99 | 222 at 10 to 99 |
| SE9 4230 postcodes | 230 at 10 to 99 | 230 at 10 to 99 | 223 at 10 to 99 |
| SE9 5153 postcodes | 153 at 10 to 99 | 153 at 10 to 99 | 153 under 10 |
| SE9 6189 postcodes | 189 at 10 to 99 | 189 at 10 to 99 | 189 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 SE9. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 47% of days
Up to 1
a day
Of its 1,168 postcodes:
- under 10
- 1,168
On a day it flies both ways, 18% of days
Up to 28
a day
Of its 1,168 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 243
- on an edge
- 72
- under 10
- 853
On a day it flies east, 35% of days
Up to 62
a day
Of its 1,168 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 266
- on an edge
- 73
- under 10
- 829
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SE9 1197 postcodes | 197 under 10 | 197 under 10 | 197 under 10 |
| SE9 2177 postcodes | 177 under 10 | 66 at 10 to 99 | 71 at 10 to 99 |
| SE9 3222 postcodes | 222 under 10 | 83 at 10 to 99 | 96 at 10 to 99 |
| SE9 4230 postcodes | 230 under 10 | 73 at 10 to 99 | 74 at 10 to 99 |
| SE9 5153 postcodes | 153 under 10 | 21 at 10 to 99 | 25 at 10 to 99 |
| SE9 6189 postcodes | 189 under 10 | 189 under 10 | 189 under 10 |
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 SE9
SE12 DA15 BR7 SE3 DA16 BR1 DA14 SE18
The councils
- Greenwich: noise and liveability score
- Bromley: noise and liveability score
- Lewisham: noise and liveability score
- Bexley: 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.