Planes overhead in M26
Bury and Bolton, Greater Manchester. All 863 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 M26. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (70% of days): up to 42 a day; of its 863 postcodes, 863 at 10 to 99
- On a day it flies both ways (10% of days): up to 22 a day; of its 863 postcodes, 836 at 10 to 99, 27 under 10
- On a day it flies east (20% of days): up to 1 a day; of its 863 postcodes, 863 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| M26 1254 postcodes | 254 at 10 to 99 | 229 at 10 to 9925 under 10 | 254 under 10 |
| M26 2181 postcodes | 181 at 10 to 99 | 181 at 10 to 99 | 181 under 10 |
| M26 3219 postcodes | 219 at 10 to 99 | 219 at 10 to 99 | 219 under 10 |
| M26 4199 postcodes | 199 at 10 to 99 | 197 at 10 to 992 under 10 | 199 under 10 |
| M26 610 postcodes | 10 at 10 to 99 | 10 at 10 to 99 | 10 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 M26
M45 BL9 BL8 BL4 BL2 M25 BL3 M38
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.