Planes overhead in W11
Kensington and Chelsea, Ealing, Westminster and Hammersmith and Fulham, London. All 733 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 W11. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (56% of days): up to 2 a day; of its 733 postcodes, 733 under 10
- On a day it flies both ways (15% of days): up to 80 a day; of its 733 postcodes, 53 at 10 to 99, 680 under 10
- On a day it flies east (29% of days): up to 187 a day; of its 733 postcodes, 53 at 100+, 680 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| W11 1161 postcodes | 161 under 10 | 1 at 10 to 99160 under 10 | 1 at 100+160 under 10 |
| W11 2163 postcodes | 163 under 10 | 4 at 10 to 99159 under 10 | 4 at 100+159 under 10 |
| W11 3148 postcodes | 148 under 10 | 148 under 10 | 148 under 10 |
| W11 4215 postcodes | 215 under 10 | 2 at 10 to 99213 under 10 | 2 at 100+213 under 10 |
| W11 946 postcodes | 46 under 10 | 46 at 10 to 99 | 46 at 100+ |
1 of its postcodes have a position ONS estimates, so their figures may be for a spot a few hundred metres away.
Over 44 of its postcodes, other flying passes too, from airfields, helicopters and airports we cannot check against official counts, so few planes from the airports we count does not mean a quiet sky there.
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 W11
The councils
- Kensington and Chelsea: noise and liveability score
- Ealing: noise and liveability score
- Westminster: noise and liveability score
- Hammersmith and Fulham: 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.