Planes overhead in WN3
Wigan, Greater Manchester. All 707 of its postcodes measured (8 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 WN3. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
On a day it flies west, 70% of days
Up to 39
a day
Of its 707 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 534
- under 10
- 173
On a day it flies both ways, 10% of days
Up to 23
a day
Of its 707 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 512
- under 10
- 195
On a day it flies east, 20% of days
Up to 16
a day
Of its 707 postcodes:
- 10 to 99
- 573
- under 10
- 134
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| WN3 4201 postcodes | 201 at 10 to 99 | 201 at 10 to 99 | 149 at 10 to 99 |
| WN3 5238 postcodes | 187 at 10 to 99 | 187 at 10 to 99 | 227 at 10 to 99 |
| WN3 6268 postcodes | 146 at 10 to 99 | 124 at 10 to 99 | 197 at 10 to 99 |
1 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 WN3
WN5 WN1 WN4 WN2 WN6 WA3 WA11 WA12
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.