Planes overhead in SW8
Lambeth and Wandsworth, London. All 832 of its postcodes measured (26 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 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 SW8. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 56% of days
Up to 596
a day
Of its 832 postcodes:
- 100 or more
- 832
On a day it flies both ways, 15% of days
Up to 336
a day
Of its 832 postcodes:
- 100 or more
- 832
On a day it flies east, 29% of days
Up to 5
a day
Of its 832 postcodes:
- under 10
- 832
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SW8 1243 postcodes | 243 at 100+ | 243 at 100+ | 243 under 10 |
| SW8 2226 postcodes | 226 at 100+ | 226 at 100+ | 226 under 10 |
| SW8 3147 postcodes | 147 at 100+ | 147 at 100+ | 147 under 10 |
| SW8 4168 postcodes | 168 at 100+ | 168 at 100+ | 168 under 10 |
| SW8 548 postcodes | 48 at 100+ | 48 at 100+ | 48 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 SW8. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 47% of days
Up to 1
a day
Of its 832 postcodes:
- under 10
- 832
On a day it flies both ways, 18% of days
Up to 28
a day
Of its 832 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 189
- on an edge
- 134
- under 10
- 509
On a day it flies east, 35% of days
Up to 62
a day
Of its 832 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 210
- on an edge
- 119
- under 10
- 503
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SW8 1243 postcodes | 243 under 10 | 187 at 10 to 99 | 208 at 10 to 99 |
| SW8 2226 postcodes | 226 under 10 | 2 at 10 to 99 | 2 at 10 to 99 |
| SW8 3147 postcodes | 147 under 10 | 147 under 10 | 147 under 10 |
| SW8 4168 postcodes | 168 under 10 | 168 under 10 | 168 under 10 |
| SW8 548 postcodes | 48 under 10 | 6 on an edge | 6 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.
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 SW8
SW9 SW1V SW4 SW1P SE11 SW1W SW11 SW1E
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.