Planes overhead in M16
Trafford and Manchester, Greater Manchester. All 884 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 M16. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (70% of days): up to 4 a day; of its 884 postcodes, 884 under 10
- On a day it flies both ways (10% of days): up to 18 a day; of its 884 postcodes, 37 at 10 to 99, 847 under 10
- On a day it flies east (20% of days): up to 38 a day; of its 884 postcodes, 205 at 10 to 99, 679 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| M16 0233 postcodes | 233 under 10 | 233 under 10 | 63 at 10 to 99170 under 10 |
| M16 620 postcodes | 20 under 10 | 20 under 10 | 20 under 10 |
| M16 7195 postcodes | 195 under 10 | 195 under 10 | 195 under 10 |
| M16 8222 postcodes | 222 under 10 | 37 at 10 to 99185 under 10 | 142 at 10 to 9980 under 10 |
| M16 9214 postcodes | 214 under 10 | 214 under 10 | 214 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 M16
M21 M14 M32 M17 M20 M19 M33 M23
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.