Planes overhead in E20
Newham, Hackney, Waltham Forest and Tower Hamlets, London. All 234 of its postcodes measured, January to August 2026.
From Heathrow
Planes land and take off into the wind, so the weather decides which way Heathrow flies, and that decides how many pass over E20. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (56% of days): up to 182 a day; of its 234 postcodes, 234 at 100+
- On a day it flies both ways (15% of days): up to 105 a day; of its 234 postcodes, 60 at 100+, 174 at 10 to 99
- On a day it flies east (29% of days): up to 1 a day; of its 234 postcodes, 234 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 west56% of days | Both ways15% of days | Flying east29% of days |
|---|---|---|---|
| E20 1200 postcodes | 200 at 100+ | 56 at 100+144 at 10 to 99 | 200 under 10 |
| E20 29 postcodes | 9 at 100+ | 9 at 10 to 99 | 9 under 10 |
| E20 325 postcodes | 25 at 100+ | 4 at 100+21 at 10 to 99 | 25 under 10 |
From London City
Planes land and take off into the wind, so the weather decides which way London City flies, and that decides how many pass over E20. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (47% of days): up to 62 a day; of its 234 postcodes, 234 at 10 to 99
- On a day it flies both ways (18% of days): up to 35 a day; of its 234 postcodes, 234 at 10 to 99
- On a day it flies east (35% of days): up to 1 a day; of its 234 postcodes, 234 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 west47% of days | Both ways18% of days | Flying east35% of days |
|---|---|---|---|
| E20 1200 postcodes | 200 at 10 to 99 | 200 at 10 to 99 | 200 under 10 |
| E20 29 postcodes | 9 at 10 to 99 | 9 at 10 to 99 | 9 under 10 |
| E20 325 postcodes | 25 at 10 to 99 | 25 at 10 to 99 | 25 under 10 |
9 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 E20
The councils
- Newham: noise and liveability score
- Hackney: noise and liveability score
- Waltham Forest: noise and liveability score
- Tower Hamlets: noise and liveability score
Where these figures come from
Counted from community flight tracking, checked against the CAA's monthly totals for Heathrow and London City. 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.