Planes overhead in SE6
Lewisham, London. All 863 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 SE6. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (56% of days): up to 131 a day; of its 863 postcodes, 678 at 100+, 185 at 10 to 99
- On a day it flies both ways (15% of days): up to 76 a day; of its 863 postcodes, 863 at 10 to 99
- On a day it flies east (29% of days): up to 50 a day; of its 863 postcodes, 546 at 10 to 99, 317 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SE6 1231 postcodes | 231 at 100+ | 231 at 10 to 99 | 165 at 10 to 9966 under 10 |
| SE6 2183 postcodes | 183 at 100+ | 183 at 10 to 99 | 96 at 10 to 9987 under 10 |
| SE6 3187 postcodes | 54 at 100+133 at 10 to 99 | 187 at 10 to 99 | 181 at 10 to 996 under 10 |
| SE6 4222 postcodes | 170 at 100+52 at 10 to 99 | 222 at 10 to 99 | 85 at 10 to 99137 under 10 |
| SE6 940 postcodes | 40 at 100+ | 40 at 10 to 99 | 19 at 10 to 9921 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 SE6. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (47% of days): up to 1 a day; of its 863 postcodes, 863 under 10
- On a day it flies both ways (18% of days): up to 28 a day; of its 863 postcodes, 331 at 10 to 99, 190 on an edge, 342 under 10
- On a day it flies east (35% of days): up to 62 a day; of its 863 postcodes, 331 at 10 to 99, 194 on an edge, 338 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SE6 1231 postcodes | 231 under 10 | 146 at 10 to 9960 on an edge25 under 10 | 146 at 10 to 9960 on an edge25 under 10 |
| SE6 2183 postcodes | 183 under 10 | 71 at 10 to 9934 on an edge78 under 10 | 71 at 10 to 9934 on an edge78 under 10 |
| SE6 3187 postcodes | 187 under 10 | 23 at 10 to 9912 on an edge152 under 10 | 23 at 10 to 9912 on an edge152 under 10 |
| SE6 4222 postcodes | 222 under 10 | 72 at 10 to 9963 on an edge87 under 10 | 72 at 10 to 9967 on an edge83 under 10 |
| SE6 940 postcodes | 40 under 10 | 19 at 10 to 9921 on an edge | 19 at 10 to 9921 on an edge |
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.
3 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 SE6
SE23 SE13 SE12 SE4 SE26 BR3 BR1 SE20
The councils
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.