Planes overhead in IG2
Redbridge, London. All 412 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 IG2. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (47% of days): up to 46 a day; of its 412 postcodes, 188 at 10 to 99, 76 on an edge, 148 under 10
- On a day it flies both ways (18% of days): up to 34 a day; of its 412 postcodes, 265 at 10 to 99, 53 on an edge, 94 under 10
- On a day it flies east (35% of days): up to 18 a day; of its 412 postcodes, 216 at 10 to 99, 21 on an edge, 175 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| IG2 6212 postcodes | 138 at 10 to 9934 on an edge40 under 10 | 198 at 10 to 999 on an edge5 under 10 | 198 at 10 to 998 on an edge6 under 10 |
| IG2 7200 postcodes | 50 at 10 to 9942 on an edge108 under 10 | 67 at 10 to 9944 on an edge89 under 10 | 18 at 10 to 9913 on an edge169 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 IG2. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (56% of days): up to 20 a day; of its 412 postcodes, 194 at 10 to 99, 218 under 10
- On a day it flies both ways (15% of days): up to 9 a day; of its 412 postcodes, 412 under 10
- On a day it flies east (29% of days): under 1 a day at all 412 of its postcodes
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| IG2 6212 postcodes | 192 at 10 to 9920 under 10 | 212 under 10 | 212 under 10 |
| IG2 7200 postcodes | 2 at 10 to 99198 under 10 | 200 under 10 | 200 under 10 |
Also counted here: Stansted, at most 1 a day over any of its postcodes.
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 IG2
IG1 IG3 IG5 IG4 IG6 RM6 E12 E18
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.