Planes overhead in M40
Manchester and Oldham, Greater Manchester. All 1,394 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 M40. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (70% of days): up to 10 a day; of its 1,394 postcodes, 2 at 10 to 99, 1,392 under 10
- On a day it flies both ways (10% of days): up to 5 a day; of its 1,394 postcodes, 1,394 under 10
- On a day it flies east (20% of days): under 1 a day at all 1,394 of its postcodes
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| M40 0144 postcodes | 2 at 10 to 99142 under 10 | 144 under 10 | 144 under 10 |
| M40 1182 postcodes | 182 under 10 | 182 under 10 | 182 under 10 |
| M40 2195 postcodes | 195 under 10 | 195 under 10 | 195 under 10 |
| M40 3168 postcodes | 168 under 10 | 168 under 10 | 168 under 10 |
| M40 49 postcodes | 9 under 10 | 9 under 10 | 9 under 10 |
| M40 5153 postcodes | 153 under 10 | 153 under 10 | 153 under 10 |
| M40 7241 postcodes | 241 under 10 | 241 under 10 | 241 under 10 |
| M40 8166 postcodes | 166 under 10 | 166 under 10 | 166 under 10 |
| M40 9136 postcodes | 136 under 10 | 136 under 10 | 136 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 M40
M9 OL9 M24 OL8 OL7 M25 M14 OL6
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.