Planes overhead in SW4
Lambeth and Wandsworth, London. All 932 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 SW4. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (56% of days): up to 573 a day; of its 932 postcodes, 663 at 100+, 222 at 10 to 99, 47 on an edge
- On a day it flies both ways (15% of days): up to 320 a day; of its 932 postcodes, 663 at 100+, 190 at 10 to 99, 50 on an edge, 29 under 10
- On a day it flies east (29% of days): up to 5 a day; of its 932 postcodes, 932 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SW4 0169 postcodes | 169 at 100+ | 169 at 100+ | 169 under 10 |
| SW4 416 postcodes | 16 at 100+ | 16 at 100+ | 16 under 10 |
| SW4 6198 postcodes | 198 at 100+ | 198 at 100+ | 198 under 10 |
| SW4 7200 postcodes | 199 at 100+1 on an edge | 199 at 100+1 on an edge | 200 under 10 |
| SW4 8166 postcodes | 11 at 100+148 at 10 to 997 on an edge | 11 at 100+132 at 10 to 997 on an edge16 under 10 | 166 under 10 |
| SW4 9183 postcodes | 70 at 100+74 at 10 to 9939 on an edge | 70 at 100+58 at 10 to 9942 on an edge13 under 10 | 183 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 SW4. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (47% of days): under 1 a day at all 932 of its postcodes
- On a day it flies both ways (18% of days): up to 28 a day; of its 932 postcodes, 8 on an edge, 924 under 10
- On a day it flies east (35% of days): up to 62 a day; of its 932 postcodes, 11 on an edge, 921 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SW4 0169 postcodes | 169 under 10 | 169 under 10 | 169 under 10 |
| SW4 416 postcodes | 16 under 10 | 16 under 10 | 16 under 10 |
| SW4 6198 postcodes | 198 under 10 | 8 on an edge190 under 10 | 11 on an edge187 under 10 |
| SW4 7200 postcodes | 200 under 10 | 200 under 10 | 200 under 10 |
| SW4 8166 postcodes | 166 under 10 | 166 under 10 | 166 under 10 |
| SW4 9183 postcodes | 183 under 10 | 183 under 10 | 183 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.
3 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 SW4
SW2 SW8 SW9 SW12 SW11 SE24 SW1V SW1P
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.