Planes overhead in SM6
Sutton, London. All 756 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 SM6. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (56% of days): up to 131 a day; of its 756 postcodes, 304 at 100+, 452 at 10 to 99
- On a day it flies both ways (15% of days): up to 75 a day; of its 756 postcodes, 756 at 10 to 99
- On a day it flies east (29% of days): up to 2 a day; of its 756 postcodes, 756 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SM6 0166 postcodes | 20 at 100+146 at 10 to 99 | 166 at 10 to 99 | 166 under 10 |
| SM6 67 postcodes | 7 at 10 to 99 | 7 at 10 to 99 | 7 under 10 |
| SM6 7168 postcodes | 162 at 100+6 at 10 to 99 | 168 at 10 to 99 | 168 under 10 |
| SM6 8208 postcodes | 122 at 100+86 at 10 to 99 | 208 at 10 to 99 | 208 under 10 |
| SM6 9207 postcodes | 207 at 10 to 99 | 207 at 10 to 99 | 207 under 10 |
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 SM6
SM5 SM1 SM2 CR8 CR2 CR0 CR4 CR7
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.