Planes overhead in M41
Trafford, Greater Manchester. All 1,020 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 M41. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (70% of days): up to 19 a day; of its 1,020 postcodes, 786 at 10 to 99, 234 under 10
- On a day it flies both ways (10% of days): up to 28 a day; of its 1,020 postcodes, 1,001 at 10 to 99, 19 under 10
- On a day it flies east (20% of days): up to 46 a day; of its 1,020 postcodes, 1,001 at 10 to 99, 19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| M41 0147 postcodes | 51 at 10 to 9996 under 10 | 147 at 10 to 99 | 147 at 10 to 99 |
| M41 418 postcodes | 18 at 10 to 99 | 18 at 10 to 99 | 18 at 10 to 99 |
| M41 5168 postcodes | 168 at 10 to 99 | 168 at 10 to 99 | 168 at 10 to 99 |
| M41 6161 postcodes | 161 at 10 to 99 | 161 at 10 to 99 | 161 at 10 to 99 |
| M41 7145 postcodes | 38 at 10 to 99107 under 10 | 126 at 10 to 9919 under 10 | 126 at 10 to 9919 under 10 |
| M41 8162 postcodes | 155 at 10 to 997 under 10 | 162 at 10 to 99 | 162 at 10 to 99 |
| M41 9219 postcodes | 195 at 10 to 9924 under 10 | 219 at 10 to 99 | 219 at 10 to 99 |
1 of its postcodes have a position ONS estimates, so their figures may be for a spot a few hundred metres away.
Over 2 of its postcodes, other flying passes too, from airfields, helicopters and airports we cannot check against official counts, so few planes from the airports we count does not mean a quiet sky there.
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 M41
M17 M32 M30 M33 M44 M31 M21 M16
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.