Planes overhead in M25
Bury and Manchester, Greater Manchester. All 786 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 M25. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (70% of days): up to 31 a day; of its 786 postcodes, 115 at 10 to 99, 671 under 10
- On a day it flies both ways (10% of days): up to 16 a day; of its 786 postcodes, 21 at 10 to 99, 765 under 10
- On a day it flies east (20% of days): up to 1 a day; of its 786 postcodes, 786 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| M25 0180 postcodes | 180 under 10 | 180 under 10 | 180 under 10 |
| M25 1212 postcodes | 9 at 10 to 99203 under 10 | 212 under 10 | 212 under 10 |
| M25 274 postcodes | 74 at 10 to 99 | 21 at 10 to 9953 under 10 | 74 under 10 |
| M25 3110 postcodes | 32 at 10 to 9978 under 10 | 110 under 10 | 110 under 10 |
| M25 9210 postcodes | 210 under 10 | 210 under 10 | 210 under 10 |
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 M25
M45 M9 M26 M24 M40 BL9 M30 M17
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.