Planes overhead in EC2N
City of London and Islington, London. All 46 of its postcodes measured, January to August 2026.
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 EC2N. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (47% of days): under 1 a day at all 46 of its postcodes
- On a day it flies both ways (18% of days): up to 27 a day; of its 46 postcodes, 4 on an edge, 42 under 10
- On a day it flies east (35% of days): up to 58 a day; of its 46 postcodes, 12 on an edge, 34 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| EC2N 117 postcodes | 17 under 10 | 17 under 10 | 3 on an edge14 under 10 |
| EC2N 218 postcodes | 18 under 10 | 18 under 10 | 5 on an edge13 under 10 |
| EC2N 33 postcodes | 3 under 10 | 2 on an edge1 under 10 | 2 on an edge1 under 10 |
| EC2N 48 postcodes | 8 under 10 | 2 on an edge6 under 10 | 2 on an edge6 under 10 |
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 EC2N. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (56% of days): up to 34 a day; of its 46 postcodes, 46 at 10 to 99
- On a day it flies both ways (15% of days): up to 25 a day; of its 46 postcodes, 44 at 10 to 99, 2 under 10
- On a day it flies east (29% of days): up to 2 a day; of its 46 postcodes, 46 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| EC2N 117 postcodes | 17 at 10 to 99 | 15 at 10 to 992 under 10 | 17 under 10 |
| EC2N 218 postcodes | 18 at 10 to 99 | 18 at 10 to 99 | 18 under 10 |
| EC2N 33 postcodes | 3 at 10 to 99 | 3 at 10 to 99 | 3 under 10 |
| EC2N 48 postcodes | 8 at 10 to 99 | 8 at 10 to 99 | 8 under 10 |
On an edge: the postcode is on the edge of a flight path, where a few metres decide whether a plane counts as overhead, and the fewest and the most within 100 m of it fall in different bands.
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 EC2N
EC2M EC3V EC2R EC3A EC4N EC3M EC2V EC3R
The councils
Where these figures come from
Counted from community flight tracking, checked against the CAA's monthly totals for London City and Heathrow. 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.