Planes overhead in SW16
Lambeth, Croydon, Wandsworth and Merton, London. All 1,353 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 SW16. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (56% of days): up to 54 a day; of its 1,353 postcodes, 376 at 10 to 99, 977 under 10
- On a day it flies both ways (15% of days): up to 67 a day; of its 1,353 postcodes, 1,353 at 10 to 99
- On a day it flies east (29% of days): up to 147 a day; of its 1,353 postcodes, 625 at 100+, 728 at 10 to 99
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SW16 1215 postcodes | 215 under 10 | 215 at 10 to 99 | 2 at 100+213 at 10 to 99 |
| SW16 2252 postcodes | 20 at 10 to 99232 under 10 | 252 at 10 to 99 | 252 at 10 to 99 |
| SW16 3183 postcodes | 69 at 10 to 99114 under 10 | 183 at 10 to 99 | 139 at 100+44 at 10 to 99 |
| SW16 4212 postcodes | 212 at 10 to 99 | 212 at 10 to 99 | 92 at 100+120 at 10 to 99 |
| SW16 5261 postcodes | 75 at 10 to 99186 under 10 | 261 at 10 to 99 | 252 at 100+9 at 10 to 99 |
| SW16 6201 postcodes | 201 under 10 | 201 at 10 to 99 | 140 at 100+61 at 10 to 99 |
| SW16 929 postcodes | 29 under 10 | 29 at 10 to 99 | 29 at 10 to 99 |
1 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 SW16
SE27 SW17 CR4 CR7 SE19 SW12 SW2 SE21
The councils
- Lambeth: noise and liveability score
- Croydon: noise and liveability score
- Wandsworth: noise and liveability score
- Merton: 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.