Planes overhead in WN1
Wigan and Bolton, Greater Manchester. All 690 of its postcodes measured, January to August 2026.
From Manchester
Planes land and take off into the wind, so the weather decides which way Manchester flies, and that decides how many pass over WN1. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (70% of days): up to 41 a day; of its 690 postcodes, 632 at 10 to 99, 58 under 10
- On a day it flies both ways (10% of days): up to 23 a day; of its 690 postcodes, 581 at 10 to 99, 109 under 10
- On a day it flies east (20% of days): up to 10 a day; of its 690 postcodes, 6 at 10 to 99, 684 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 west70% of days | Both ways10% of days | Flying east20% of days |
|---|---|---|---|
| WN1 1130 postcodes | 130 at 10 to 99 | 130 at 10 to 99 | 130 under 10 |
| WN1 2244 postcodes | 186 at 10 to 9958 under 10 | 135 at 10 to 99109 under 10 | 244 under 10 |
| WN1 3244 postcodes | 244 at 10 to 99 | 244 at 10 to 99 | 6 at 10 to 99238 under 10 |
| WN1 972 postcodes | 72 at 10 to 99 | 72 at 10 to 99 | 72 under 10 |
5 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 WN1
WN3 WN6 WN2 WN5 WN4 BL6 BL5 M46
The councils
Where these figures come from
Counted from community flight tracking, checked against the CAA's monthly totals for Manchester. 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.