Planes overhead in BL2
Bolton and Bury, Greater Manchester. All 1,152 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 BL2. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (70% of days): up to 38 a day; of its 1,152 postcodes, 901 at 10 to 99, 251 under 10
- On a day it flies both ways (10% of days): up to 18 a day; of its 1,152 postcodes, 570 at 10 to 99, 582 under 10
- On a day it flies east (20% of days): up to 9 a day; of its 1,152 postcodes, 1,152 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| BL2 1120 postcodes | 120 at 10 to 99 | 120 at 10 to 99 | 120 under 10 |
| BL2 2220 postcodes | 220 at 10 to 99 | 145 at 10 to 9975 under 10 | 220 under 10 |
| BL2 3203 postcodes | 56 at 10 to 99147 under 10 | 203 under 10 | 203 under 10 |
| BL2 4142 postcodes | 38 at 10 to 99104 under 10 | 142 under 10 | 142 under 10 |
| BL2 5217 postcodes | 217 at 10 to 99 | 55 at 10 to 99162 under 10 | 217 under 10 |
| BL2 6250 postcodes | 250 at 10 to 99 | 250 at 10 to 99 | 250 under 10 |
2 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 BL2
BL1 BL3 BL7 BL4 BL8 M26 M38 BL9
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.