Planes overhead in SW9
Lambeth, London. All 969 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 SW9. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (56% of days): up to 561 a day; of its 969 postcodes, 969 at 100+
- On a day it flies both ways (15% of days): up to 313 a day; of its 969 postcodes, 969 at 100+
- On a day it flies east (29% of days): up to 5 a day; of its 969 postcodes, 969 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SW9 0183 postcodes | 183 at 100+ | 183 at 100+ | 183 under 10 |
| SW9 113 postcodes | 13 at 100+ | 13 at 100+ | 13 under 10 |
| SW9 6193 postcodes | 193 at 100+ | 193 at 100+ | 193 under 10 |
| SW9 7189 postcodes | 189 at 100+ | 189 at 100+ | 189 under 10 |
| SW9 8173 postcodes | 173 at 100+ | 173 at 100+ | 173 under 10 |
| SW9 9218 postcodes | 218 at 100+ | 218 at 100+ | 218 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 SW9. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (47% of days): up to 1 a day; of its 969 postcodes, 969 under 10
- On a day it flies both ways (18% of days): up to 28 a day; of its 969 postcodes, 593 at 10 to 99, 212 on an edge, 164 under 10
- On a day it flies east (35% of days): up to 62 a day; of its 969 postcodes, 608 at 10 to 99, 205 on an edge, 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 west47% of days | Both ways18% of days | Flying east35% of days |
|---|---|---|---|
| SW9 0183 postcodes | 183 under 10 | 176 at 10 to 997 on an edge | 178 at 10 to 995 on an edge |
| SW9 113 postcodes | 13 under 10 | 13 at 10 to 99 | 13 at 10 to 99 |
| SW9 6193 postcodes | 193 under 10 | 109 at 10 to 9944 on an edge40 under 10 | 110 at 10 to 9943 on an edge40 under 10 |
| SW9 7189 postcodes | 189 under 10 | 129 at 10 to 9953 on an edge7 under 10 | 132 at 10 to 9952 on an edge5 under 10 |
| SW9 8173 postcodes | 173 under 10 | 129 at 10 to 9940 on an edge4 under 10 | 134 at 10 to 9936 on an edge3 under 10 |
| SW9 9218 postcodes | 218 under 10 | 37 at 10 to 9968 on an edge113 under 10 | 41 at 10 to 9969 on an edge108 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 SW9
SW8 SE5 SE24 SW4 SW2 SE11 SE17 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.