Planes overhead in SM1
Sutton, London. All 843 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 SM1. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (56% of days): up to 101 a day; of its 843 postcodes, 4 at 100+, 839 at 10 to 99
- On a day it flies both ways (15% of days): up to 60 a day; of its 843 postcodes, 843 at 10 to 99
- On a day it flies east (29% of days): up to 2 a day; of its 843 postcodes, 843 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SM1 1108 postcodes | 108 at 10 to 99 | 108 at 10 to 99 | 108 under 10 |
| SM1 2247 postcodes | 247 at 10 to 99 | 247 at 10 to 99 | 247 under 10 |
| SM1 3216 postcodes | 4 at 100+212 at 10 to 99 | 216 at 10 to 99 | 216 under 10 |
| SM1 4228 postcodes | 228 at 10 to 99 | 228 at 10 to 99 | 228 under 10 |
| SM1 944 postcodes | 44 at 10 to 99 | 44 at 10 to 99 | 44 under 10 |
12 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 SM1
SM5 SM2 SM3 SM4 SM6 KT4 CR4 SW20
The councils
Where these figures come from
Counted from community flight tracking, checked against the CAA's monthly totals for Heathrow. 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.