Planes overhead in BL3
Bolton and Bury, Greater Manchester. All 1,387 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 BL3. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (70% of days): up to 44 a day; of its 1,387 postcodes, 1,387 at 10 to 99
- On a day it flies both ways (10% of days): up to 27 a day; of its 1,387 postcodes, 1,387 at 10 to 99
- On a day it flies east (20% of days): up to 13 a day; of its 1,387 postcodes, 129 at 10 to 99, 1,258 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| BL3 1270 postcodes | 270 at 10 to 99 | 270 at 10 to 99 | 270 under 10 |
| BL3 2214 postcodes | 214 at 10 to 99 | 214 at 10 to 99 | 214 under 10 |
| BL3 3248 postcodes | 248 at 10 to 99 | 248 at 10 to 99 | 248 under 10 |
| BL3 4295 postcodes | 295 at 10 to 99 | 295 at 10 to 99 | 129 at 10 to 99166 under 10 |
| BL3 5167 postcodes | 167 at 10 to 99 | 167 at 10 to 99 | 167 under 10 |
| BL3 6193 postcodes | 193 at 10 to 99 | 193 at 10 to 99 | 193 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 BL3
BL4 BL1 M38 BL2 BL5 M46 M28 BL7
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.