Planes overhead in W1W
Westminster and Islington, London. All 621 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 W1W. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (56% of days): up to 11 a day; of its 621 postcodes, 8 at 10 to 99, 613 under 10
- On a day it flies both ways (15% of days): up to 8 a day; of its 621 postcodes, 621 under 10
- On a day it flies east (29% of days): up to 4 a day; of its 621 postcodes, 621 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| W1W 597 postcodes | 97 under 10 | 97 under 10 | 97 under 10 |
| W1W 6192 postcodes | 192 under 10 | 192 under 10 | 192 under 10 |
| W1W 7190 postcodes | 190 under 10 | 190 under 10 | 190 under 10 |
| W1W 8142 postcodes | 8 at 10 to 99134 under 10 | 142 under 10 | 142 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 W1W
W1T W1G WC1B WC2H W1J WC1H SW1Y WC1A
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.