Planes overhead in SE12
Lewisham, Greenwich and Bromley, London. All 514 of its postcodes measured, January to August 2026.
From Heathrow
Planes land and take off into the wind, so the weather decides which way Heathrow flies, and that decides how many pass over SE12. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (56% of days): up to 117 a day; of its 514 postcodes, 209 at 100+, 305 at 10 to 99
- On a day it flies both ways (15% of days): up to 68 a day; of its 514 postcodes, 514 at 10 to 99
- On a day it flies east (29% of days): up to 34 a day; of its 514 postcodes, 166 at 10 to 99, 348 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 west56% of days | Both ways15% of days | Flying east29% of days |
|---|---|---|---|
| SE12 0179 postcodes | 146 at 100+33 at 10 to 99 | 179 at 10 to 99 | 75 at 10 to 99104 under 10 |
| SE12 27 postcodes | 7 at 10 to 99 | 7 at 10 to 99 | 7 under 10 |
| SE12 8151 postcodes | 58 at 100+93 at 10 to 99 | 151 at 10 to 99 | 151 under 10 |
| SE12 9177 postcodes | 5 at 100+172 at 10 to 99 | 177 at 10 to 99 | 91 at 10 to 9986 under 10 |
From London City
Planes land and take off into the wind, so the weather decides which way London City flies, and that decides how many pass over SE12. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (47% of days): up to 1 a day; of its 514 postcodes, 514 under 10
- On a day it flies both ways (18% of days): up to 28 a day; of its 514 postcodes, 84 at 10 to 99, 64 on an edge, 366 under 10
- On a day it flies east (35% of days): up to 62 a day; of its 514 postcodes, 100 at 10 to 99, 70 on an edge, 344 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 west47% of days | Both ways18% of days | Flying east35% of days |
|---|---|---|---|
| SE12 0179 postcodes | 179 under 10 | 58 at 10 to 9937 on an edge84 under 10 | 63 at 10 to 9938 on an edge78 under 10 |
| SE12 27 postcodes | 7 under 10 | 7 under 10 | 7 under 10 |
| SE12 8151 postcodes | 151 under 10 | 151 under 10 | 151 under 10 |
| SE12 9177 postcodes | 177 under 10 | 26 at 10 to 9927 on an edge124 under 10 | 37 at 10 to 9932 on an edge108 under 10 |
On an edge: the postcode is on the edge of a flight path, where a few metres decide whether a plane counts as overhead, and the fewest and the most within 100 m of it fall in different bands.
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 SE12
SE9 SE6 SE13 SE3 BR1 SE4 SE7 BR7
The councils
- Lewisham: noise and liveability score
- Greenwich: noise and liveability score
- Bromley: noise and liveability score
Where these figures come from
Counted from community flight tracking, checked against the CAA's monthly totals for Heathrow and London City. 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.