Planes overhead in M31
Trafford, Greater Manchester. All 267 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 M31. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (70% of days): up to 48 a day; of its 267 postcodes, 267 at 10 to 99
- On a day it flies both ways (10% of days): up to 29 a day; of its 267 postcodes, 267 at 10 to 99
- On a day it flies east (20% of days): up to 38 a day; of its 267 postcodes, 51 at 10 to 99, 216 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| M31 4267 postcodes | 267 at 10 to 99 | 267 at 10 to 99 | 51 at 10 to 99216 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 M31
M44 M41 WA14 M33 WA15 M32 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.