Planes overhead in SW4
Lambeth and Wandsworth, London. All 902 of its postcodes measured (30 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 SW4. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 56% of days
Up to 573
a day
Of its 902 postcodes:
- 100 or more
- 633
- 10 to 99
- 222
- on an edge
- 47
On a day it flies both ways, 15% of days
Up to 320
a day
Of its 902 postcodes:
- 100 or more
- 633
- 10 to 99
- 190
- on an edge
- 50
- under 10
- 29
On a day it flies east, 29% of days
Up to 5
a day
Of its 902 postcodes:
- under 10
- 902
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SW4 0165 postcodes | 165 at 100+ | 165 at 100+ | 165 under 10 |
| SW4 6198 postcodes | 198 at 100+ | 198 at 100+ | 198 under 10 |
| SW4 7196 postcodes | 195 at 100+ | 195 at 100+ | 196 under 10 |
| SW4 8164 postcodes | 9 at 100+ | 9 at 100+ | 164 under 10 |
| SW4 9179 postcodes | 66 at 100+ | 66 at 100+ | 179 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 SW4. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 47% of days
Under 1
a day, at all 902 of its postcodes
On a day it flies both ways, 18% of days
Up to 28
a day
Of its 902 postcodes:
- on an edge
- 8
- under 10
- 894
On a day it flies east, 35% of days
Up to 62
a day
Of its 902 postcodes:
- on an edge
- 11
- under 10
- 891
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SW4 0165 postcodes | 165 under 10 | 165 under 10 | 165 under 10 |
| SW4 6198 postcodes | 198 under 10 | 8 on an edge | 11 on an edge |
| SW4 7196 postcodes | 196 under 10 | 196 under 10 | 196 under 10 |
| SW4 8164 postcodes | 164 under 10 | 164 under 10 | 164 under 10 |
| SW4 9179 postcodes | 179 under 10 | 179 under 10 | 179 under 10 |
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.
3 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 SW4
SW2 SW8 SW9 SW12 SW11 SE24 SW1V SE5
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.