Planes overhead in WN3
Wigan, Greater Manchester. All 715 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 WN3. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (70% of days): up to 39 a day; of its 715 postcodes, 540 at 10 to 99, 175 under 10
- On a day it flies both ways (10% of days): up to 23 a day; of its 715 postcodes, 518 at 10 to 99, 197 under 10
- On a day it flies east (20% of days): up to 16 a day; of its 715 postcodes, 576 at 10 to 99, 139 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| WN3 4206 postcodes | 206 at 10 to 99 | 206 at 10 to 99 | 149 at 10 to 9957 under 10 |
| WN3 5238 postcodes | 187 at 10 to 9951 under 10 | 187 at 10 to 9951 under 10 | 227 at 10 to 9911 under 10 |
| WN3 6271 postcodes | 147 at 10 to 99124 under 10 | 125 at 10 to 99146 under 10 | 200 at 10 to 9971 under 10 |
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 WN3
WN5 WN1 WN4 WN2 WN6 WA11 WA12 BL5
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.