Planes overhead in OL3
Oldham, Greater Manchester. All 595 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 OL3. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (70% of days): up to 26 a day; of its 595 postcodes, 594 at 10 to 99, 1 under 10
- On a day it flies both ways (10% of days): up to 11 a day; of its 595 postcodes, 68 at 10 to 99, 527 under 10
- On a day it flies east (20% of days): under 1 a day at all 595 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| OL3 5277 postcodes | 277 at 10 to 99 | 277 under 10 | 277 under 10 |
| OL3 6134 postcodes | 134 at 10 to 99 | 1 at 10 to 99133 under 10 | 134 under 10 |
| OL3 7184 postcodes | 183 at 10 to 991 under 10 | 67 at 10 to 99117 under 10 | 184 under 10 |
7 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 OL3
OL4 OL5 OL1 OL2 OL8 SK15 OL6 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.