Planes overhead in OL16
Rochdale and Oldham, Greater Manchester. All 1,125 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 OL16. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (70% of days): up to 21 a day; of its 1,125 postcodes, 1,063 at 10 to 99, 62 under 10
- On a day it flies both ways (10% of days): up to 10 a day; of its 1,125 postcodes, 19 at 10 to 99, 1,106 under 10
- On a day it flies east (20% of days): under 1 a day at all 1,125 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| OL16 1140 postcodes | 140 at 10 to 99 | 140 under 10 | 140 under 10 |
| OL16 2244 postcodes | 182 at 10 to 9962 under 10 | 244 under 10 | 244 under 10 |
| OL16 3243 postcodes | 243 at 10 to 99 | 243 under 10 | 243 under 10 |
| OL16 4291 postcodes | 291 at 10 to 99 | 19 at 10 to 99272 under 10 | 291 under 10 |
| OL16 5155 postcodes | 155 at 10 to 99 | 155 under 10 | 155 under 10 |
| OL16 952 postcodes | 52 at 10 to 99 | 52 under 10 | 52 under 10 |
9 of its postcodes have a position ONS estimates, so their figures may be for a spot a few hundred metres away.
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 OL16
OL12 OL11 OL15 OL2 OL10 OL1 M24 OL9
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.