Planes overhead in SW1P
Westminster, London. All 422 of its postcodes measured (330 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 Westminster, 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 SW1P. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 56% of days
Up to 44
a day
Of its 422 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 422
On a day it flies both ways, 15% of days
Up to 31
a day
Of its 422 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 422
On a day it flies east, 29% of days
Up to 1
a day
Of its 422 postcodes:
- under 10
- 422
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SW1P 186 postcodes | 86 at 10 to 99 | 86 at 10 to 99 | 86 under 10 |
| SW1P 2130 postcodes | 130 at 10 to 99 | 130 at 10 to 99 | 130 under 10 |
| SW1P 369 postcodes | 69 at 10 to 99 | 69 at 10 to 99 | 69 under 10 |
| SW1P 4137 postcodes | 137 at 10 to 99 | 137 at 10 to 99 | 137 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 SW1P. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 47% of days
Under 1
a day, at all 422 of its postcodes
On a day it flies both ways, 18% of days
Up to 13
a day
Of its 422 postcodes:
- on an edge
- 1
- under 10
- 421
On a day it flies east, 35% of days
Up to 34
a day
Of its 422 postcodes:
- on an edge
- 1
- under 10
- 421
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SW1P 186 postcodes | 86 under 10 | 86 under 10 | 86 under 10 |
| SW1P 2130 postcodes | 130 under 10 | 130 under 10 | 130 under 10 |
| SW1P 369 postcodes | 69 under 10 | 69 under 10 | 69 under 10 |
| SW1P 4137 postcodes | 137 under 10 | 1 on an edge | 1 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 SW1P
SW1H SW1E SW1V SW1A SW1W SW1Y SE11 WC2N
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.