Planes overhead in BL5
Bolton, Greater Manchester. All 706 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 BL5. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (70% of days): up to 44 a day; of its 706 postcodes, 704 at 10 to 99, 2 under 10
- On a day it flies both ways (10% of days): up to 28 a day; of its 706 postcodes, 694 at 10 to 99, 12 under 10
- On a day it flies east (20% of days): up to 16 a day; of its 706 postcodes, 597 at 10 to 99, 109 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| BL5 196 postcodes | 95 at 10 to 991 under 10 | 87 at 10 to 999 under 10 | 2 at 10 to 9994 under 10 |
| BL5 2253 postcodes | 253 at 10 to 99 | 253 at 10 to 99 | 252 at 10 to 991 under 10 |
| BL5 3357 postcodes | 356 at 10 to 991 under 10 | 354 at 10 to 993 under 10 | 343 at 10 to 9914 under 10 |
1 of its postcodes have a position ONS estimates, so their figures may be for a spot a few hundred metres away.
Over 2 of its postcodes, other flying passes too, from airfields, helicopters and airports we cannot check against official counts, so few planes from the airports we count does not mean a quiet sky there.
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 BL5
M46 WN2 BL6 WN7 M29 BL3 M38 BL1
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.