Planes overhead in SM1
Sutton, London. All 793 of its postcodes measured (50 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 Sutton, 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 SM1. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 56% of days
Up to 101
a day
Of its 793 postcodes:
- 100 or more
- 4
- 10 to 99
- 789
On a day it flies both ways, 15% of days
Up to 60
a day
Of its 793 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 793
On a day it flies east, 29% of days
Up to 2
a day
Of its 793 postcodes:
- under 10
- 793
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SM1 196 postcodes | 96 at 10 to 99 | 96 at 10 to 99 | 96 under 10 |
| SM1 2244 postcodes | 244 at 10 to 99 | 244 at 10 to 99 | 244 under 10 |
| SM1 3214 postcodes | 4 at 100+ | 214 at 10 to 99 | 214 under 10 |
| SM1 4221 postcodes | 221 at 10 to 99 | 221 at 10 to 99 | 221 under 10 |
| SM1 918 postcodes | 18 at 10 to 99 | 18 at 10 to 99 | 18 under 10 |
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 SM1
SM5 SM3 SM2 SM4 SM6 KT4 CR4 SW20
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.