Planes overhead in SW19
Merton and Wandsworth, London. All 1,572 of its postcodes measured (87 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 Merton 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 SW19. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 56% of days
Up to 8
a day
Of its 1,572 postcodes:
- under 10
- 1,572
On a day it flies both ways, 15% of days
Up to 77
a day
Of its 1,572 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 1,348
- under 10
- 224
On a day it flies east, 29% of days
Up to 174
a day
Of its 1,572 postcodes:
- 100 or more
- 1,160
- 10 to 99
- 277
- under 10
- 135
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SW19 1226 postcodes | 226 under 10 | 226 at 10 to 99 | 226 at 100+ |
| SW19 2207 postcodes | 207 under 10 | 207 at 10 to 99 | 203 at 100+ |
| SW19 3201 postcodes | 201 under 10 | 201 at 10 to 99 | 163 at 100+ |
| SW19 4215 postcodes | 215 under 10 | 215 at 10 to 99 | 215 at 100+ |
| SW19 5148 postcodes | 148 under 10 | 125 at 10 to 99 | 69 at 100+ |
| SW19 6212 postcodes | 212 under 10 | 11 at 10 to 99 | 86 at 10 to 99 |
| SW19 7136 postcodes | 136 under 10 | 136 at 10 to 99 | 124 at 100+ |
| SW19 8227 postcodes | 227 under 10 | 227 at 10 to 99 | 160 at 100+ |
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 SW19
SW20 SW17 SW18 SM4 CR4 SW15 SW12 KT3
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.