Planes overhead in SW5
Kensington and Chelsea, London. All 306 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 SW5. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (56% of days): up to 305 a day; of its 306 postcodes, 10 at 100+, 296 under 10
- On a day it flies both ways (15% of days): up to 166 a day; of its 306 postcodes, 10 at 100+, 296 under 10
- On a day it flies east (29% of days): up to 4 a day; of its 306 postcodes, 306 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SW5 0149 postcodes | 149 under 10 | 149 under 10 | 149 under 10 |
| SW5 56 postcodes | 6 at 100+ | 6 at 100+ | 6 under 10 |
| SW5 9151 postcodes | 4 at 100+147 under 10 | 4 at 100+147 under 10 | 151 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 SW5
SW10 W14 SW6 SW3 W6 SW1X W11 SW1W
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.