Planes overhead in SW2
Lambeth, London. All 994 of its postcodes measured (40 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 Lambeth, 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 SW2. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 56% of days
Up to 307
a day
Of its 994 postcodes:
- 100 or more
- 190
- 10 to 99
- 650
- on an edge
- 77
- under 10
- 77
On a day it flies both ways, 15% of days
Up to 176
a day
Of its 994 postcodes:
- 100 or more
- 177
- 10 to 99
- 740
- on an edge
- 77
On a day it flies east, 29% of days
Up to 30
a day
Of its 994 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 262
- under 10
- 732
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SW2 1167 postcodes | 104 at 100+ | 91 at 100+ | 167 under 10 |
| SW2 2221 postcodes | 212 at 10 to 99 | 221 at 10 to 99 | 221 under 10 |
| SW2 3226 postcodes | 205 at 10 to 99 | 226 at 10 to 99 | 161 at 10 to 99 |
| SW2 4208 postcodes | 152 at 10 to 99 | 208 at 10 to 99 | 101 at 10 to 99 |
| SW2 5172 postcodes | 86 at 100+ | 86 at 100+ | 172 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 SW2. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 47% of days
Up to 1
a day
Of its 994 postcodes:
- under 10
- 994
On a day it flies both ways, 18% of days
Up to 28
a day
Of its 994 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 93
- on an edge
- 99
- under 10
- 802
On a day it flies east, 35% of days
Up to 62
a day
Of its 994 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 103
- on an edge
- 98
- 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 west47% of days | Both ways18% of days | Flying east35% of days |
|---|---|---|---|
| SW2 1167 postcodes | 167 under 10 | 88 at 10 to 99 | 93 at 10 to 99 |
| SW2 2221 postcodes | 221 under 10 | 5 at 10 to 99 | 10 at 10 to 99 |
| SW2 3226 postcodes | 226 under 10 | 226 under 10 | 226 under 10 |
| SW2 4208 postcodes | 208 under 10 | 208 under 10 | 208 under 10 |
| SW2 5172 postcodes | 172 under 10 | 11 on an edge | 11 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.
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 SW2
SE24 SW4 SW12 SW9 SE27 SE21 SW8 SW16
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.