Planes overhead in SW16
Lambeth, Croydon, Wandsworth and Merton, London. All 1,306 of its postcodes measured (47 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 Croydon, the planes over Lambeth and the planes over Wandsworth, 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 SW16. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 56% of days
Up to 54
a day
Of its 1,306 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 372
- under 10
- 934
On a day it flies both ways, 15% of days
Up to 67
a day
Of its 1,306 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 1,306
On a day it flies east, 29% of days
Up to 147
a day
Of its 1,306 postcodes:
- 100 or more
- 621
- 10 to 99
- 685
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SW16 1208 postcodes | 208 under 10 | 208 at 10 to 99 | 2 at 100+ |
| SW16 2248 postcodes | 20 at 10 to 99 | 248 at 10 to 99 | 248 at 10 to 99 |
| SW16 3181 postcodes | 69 at 10 to 99 | 181 at 10 to 99 | 139 at 100+ |
| SW16 4209 postcodes | 209 at 10 to 99 | 209 at 10 to 99 | 90 at 100+ |
| SW16 5259 postcodes | 74 at 10 to 99 | 259 at 10 to 99 | 250 at 100+ |
| SW16 6201 postcodes | 201 under 10 | 201 at 10 to 99 | 140 at 100+ |
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 SW16
SE27 SW17 CR4 CR7 SE19 SW12 SW2 SE21
The councils
- Lambeth: noise and liveability score
- Croydon: noise and liveability score
- Wandsworth: noise and liveability score
- Merton: noise and liveability score
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.