Planes overhead in SW2
Lambeth, London. All 1,034 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 SW2. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (56% of days): up to 307 a day; of its 1,034 postcodes, 199 at 100+, 678 at 10 to 99, 78 on an edge, 79 under 10
- On a day it flies both ways (15% of days): up to 176 a day; of its 1,034 postcodes, 185 at 100+, 770 at 10 to 99, 79 on an edge
- On a day it flies east (29% of days): up to 30 a day; of its 1,034 postcodes, 266 at 10 to 99, 768 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SW2 1179 postcodes | 110 at 100+33 at 10 to 9936 on an edge | 96 at 100+37 at 10 to 9946 on an edge | 179 under 10 |
| SW2 2224 postcodes | 215 at 10 to 999 on an edge | 224 at 10 to 99 | 224 under 10 |
| SW2 3229 postcodes | 208 at 10 to 9921 under 10 | 229 at 10 to 99 | 162 at 10 to 9967 under 10 |
| SW2 4215 postcodes | 157 at 10 to 9958 under 10 | 215 at 10 to 99 | 104 at 10 to 99111 under 10 |
| SW2 5175 postcodes | 87 at 100+55 at 10 to 9933 on an edge | 87 at 100+55 at 10 to 9933 on an edge | 175 under 10 |
| SW2 912 postcodes | 2 at 100+10 at 10 to 99 | 2 at 100+10 at 10 to 99 | 12 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 SW2. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (47% of days): up to 1 a day; of its 1,034 postcodes, 1,034 under 10
- On a day it flies both ways (18% of days): up to 28 a day; of its 1,034 postcodes, 95 at 10 to 99, 106 on an edge, 833 under 10
- On a day it flies east (35% of days): up to 62 a day; of its 1,034 postcodes, 109 at 10 to 99, 101 on an edge, 824 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SW2 1179 postcodes | 179 under 10 | 90 at 10 to 9944 on an edge45 under 10 | 97 at 10 to 9937 on an edge45 under 10 |
| SW2 2224 postcodes | 224 under 10 | 5 at 10 to 9948 on an edge171 under 10 | 10 at 10 to 9952 on an edge162 under 10 |
| SW2 3229 postcodes | 229 under 10 | 229 under 10 | 229 under 10 |
| SW2 4215 postcodes | 215 under 10 | 215 under 10 | 215 under 10 |
| SW2 5175 postcodes | 175 under 10 | 12 on an edge163 under 10 | 12 on an edge163 under 10 |
| SW2 912 postcodes | 12 under 10 | 2 on an edge10 under 10 | 2 at 10 to 9910 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.
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 SW2
SE24 SW4 SW12 SW9 SE27 SE21 SW8 SW16
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.