Planes overhead in W1J
Westminster and Islington, London. All 666 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 W1J. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (56% of days): up to 11 a day; of its 666 postcodes, 1 at 10 to 99, 665 under 10
- On a day it flies both ways (15% of days): up to 8 a day; of its 666 postcodes, 666 under 10
- On a day it flies east (29% of days): up to 2 a day; of its 666 postcodes, 666 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| W1J 089 postcodes | 89 under 10 | 89 under 10 | 89 under 10 |
| W1J 5150 postcodes | 1 at 10 to 99149 under 10 | 150 under 10 | 150 under 10 |
| W1J 687 postcodes | 87 under 10 | 87 under 10 | 87 under 10 |
| W1J 7218 postcodes | 218 under 10 | 218 under 10 | 218 under 10 |
| W1J 888 postcodes | 88 under 10 | 88 under 10 | 88 under 10 |
| W1J 934 postcodes | 34 under 10 | 34 under 10 | 34 under 10 |
Also counted here: London City, at most 1 a day over any of its postcodes.
4 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 W1J
SW1Y SW1A SW1E W1G W1W SW1H SW1X WC2H
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.