Planes overhead in SW15
Wandsworth, Kingston upon Thames and Richmond upon Thames, London. All 1,225 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 SW15. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (56% of days): up to 457 a day; of its 1,225 postcodes, 505 at 100+, 145 on an edge, 575 under 10
- On a day it flies both ways (15% of days): up to 249 a day; of its 1,225 postcodes, 502 at 100+, 65 at 10 to 99, 145 on an edge, 513 under 10
- On a day it flies east (29% of days): up to 175 a day; of its 1,225 postcodes, 43 at 100+, 23 at 10 to 99, 3 on an edge, 1,156 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SW15 1187 postcodes | 182 at 100+5 on an edge | 180 at 100+7 on an edge | 187 under 10 |
| SW15 2217 postcodes | 93 at 100+65 on an edge59 under 10 | 93 at 100+62 on an edge62 under 10 | 217 under 10 |
| SW15 3203 postcodes | 203 under 10 | 65 at 10 to 99138 under 10 | 43 at 100+23 at 10 to 993 on an edge134 under 10 |
| SW15 4153 postcodes | 153 under 10 | 153 under 10 | 153 under 10 |
| SW15 5215 postcodes | 78 at 100+41 on an edge96 under 10 | 78 at 100+41 on an edge96 under 10 | 215 under 10 |
| SW15 6215 postcodes | 117 at 100+34 on an edge64 under 10 | 116 at 100+35 on an edge64 under 10 | 215 under 10 |
| SW15 935 postcodes | 35 at 100+ | 35 at 100+ | 35 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.
Over 13 of its postcodes, other flying passes too, from airfields, helicopters and airports we cannot check against official counts, so few planes from the airports we count does not mean a quiet sky there.
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 SW15
SW13 SW18 SW14 SW6 W6 SW19 SW10 W14
The councils
- Wandsworth: noise and liveability score
- Kingston upon Thames: noise and liveability score
- Richmond upon Thames: noise and liveability score
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.