Planes overhead in M17
Trafford and Salford, Greater Manchester. All 161 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 M17. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (70% of days): up to 8 a day; of its 161 postcodes, 161 under 10
- On a day it flies both ways (10% of days): up to 13 a day; of its 161 postcodes, 1 at 10 to 99, 160 under 10
- On a day it flies east (20% of days): up to 17 a day; of its 161 postcodes, 1 at 10 to 99, 160 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| M17 1136 postcodes | 136 under 10 | 136 under 10 | 136 under 10 |
| M17 825 postcodes | 25 under 10 | 1 at 10 to 9924 under 10 | 1 at 10 to 9924 under 10 |
4 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 M17
M32 M30 M41 M16 M21 M33 M14 M25
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.