Planes overhead in WN1
Wigan and Bolton, Greater Manchester. All 614 of its postcodes measured (76 PO boxes and other large-user postcodes left out), January to August 2026.
From Manchester
Planes land and take off into the wind, so the weather decides which way Manchester flies, and that decides how many pass over WN1. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 70% of days
Up to 41
a day
Of its 614 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 556
- under 10
- 58
On a day it flies both ways, 10% of days
Up to 23
a day
Of its 614 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 506
- under 10
- 108
On a day it flies east, 20% of days
Up to 10
a day
Of its 614 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 6
- under 10
- 608
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 west70% of days | Both ways10% of days | Flying east20% of days |
|---|---|---|---|
| WN1 1109 postcodes | 109 at 10 to 99 | 109 at 10 to 99 | 109 under 10 |
| WN1 2239 postcodes | 181 at 10 to 99 | 131 at 10 to 99 | 239 under 10 |
| WN1 3241 postcodes | 241 at 10 to 99 | 241 at 10 to 99 | 6 at 10 to 99 |
| WN1 925 postcodes | 25 at 10 to 99 | 25 at 10 to 99 | 25 under 10 |
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 WN1
WN3 WN6 WN2 WN5 WN4 BL6 BL5 WA3
The councils
Where these figures come from
Counted from community flight tracking, checked against the CAA's monthly totals for Manchester. 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.