Planes overhead in BL1
Bolton, Greater Manchester. All 1,852 of its postcodes measured, 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 BL1. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (70% of days): up to 28 a day; of its 1,852 postcodes, 1,314 at 10 to 99, 538 under 10
- On a day it flies both ways (10% of days): up to 17 a day; of its 1,852 postcodes, 1,433 at 10 to 99, 419 under 10
- On a day it flies east (20% of days): up to 13 a day; of its 1,852 postcodes, 1,239 at 10 to 99, 613 under 10
The table counts the postcodes of each sector by how many planes pass over them a day: 100 or more, 10 to 99, or under 10.
| Sector | Flying west70% of days | Both ways10% of days | Flying east20% of days |
|---|---|---|---|
| BL1 1119 postcodes | 119 at 10 to 99 | 119 at 10 to 99 | 119 under 10 |
| BL1 2201 postcodes | 201 at 10 to 99 | 201 at 10 to 99 | 3 at 10 to 99198 under 10 |
| BL1 3270 postcodes | 256 at 10 to 9914 under 10 | 266 at 10 to 994 under 10 | 209 at 10 to 9961 under 10 |
| BL1 4208 postcodes | 208 at 10 to 99 | 208 at 10 to 99 | 141 at 10 to 9967 under 10 |
| BL1 5305 postcodes | 260 at 10 to 9945 under 10 | 291 at 10 to 9914 under 10 | 305 at 10 to 99 |
| BL1 6210 postcodes | 89 at 10 to 99121 under 10 | 119 at 10 to 9991 under 10 | 210 at 10 to 99 |
| BL1 7210 postcodes | 2 at 10 to 99208 under 10 | 3 at 10 to 99207 under 10 | 180 at 10 to 9930 under 10 |
| BL1 8282 postcodes | 132 at 10 to 99150 under 10 | 179 at 10 to 99103 under 10 | 191 at 10 to 9991 under 10 |
| BL1 947 postcodes | 47 at 10 to 99 | 47 at 10 to 99 | 47 under 10 |
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.
Near BL1
BL3 BL2 BL7 BL4 BL6 M38 BL5 M46
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.