Planes Over London

Introduction

Millions of Londoners live under Heathrow's flightpath. However, planes don’t always fly over the capital. Planes Over London provides a unique 14-day forecast on whether arrivals into airport will be passing overhead.

The almost constant flow of arriving aircraft and their noise, impacts the quality of lives of those living underneath it. This project was in part created to help them predict when they might be impacted. Some days, when the wind is blowing from the West they approach the airport from the East over Windsor avoiding Central London altogether.

What started as a quick prototype has grown into a project that now helps thousands of Londoners each week know when to expect planes overhead. Outside Heathrow Airport official resources, Planes Over London has established itself as only independent source.

The prototype

The site was initially launched as single page prototype, producing a simple grid with Yes/Nos depending on whether there would be air traffic over London on any given day.

Once online considerable effort was put in to promote the project, not just online but also in the communities most affected by Heathrow's flightpath.

The project took on a life of its own, growing in usage and was soon seeing a steady and very loyal following.

Expanding the scope

With an established presence and a loyal following, we spent the summer of 2022 completely redeveloping the project. Heathrow’s airspace and runway usage are complex, and we wanted the site to reflect that — providing not just a clearer picture of what’s happening now, but also a better forecast. We introduced a detailed live view of current air traffic, showing near real-time updates on planes approaching Heathrow, those that have landed, and which runway they used.

We introduced a detailed live view of current air traffic, showing near real-time updates on planes approaching Heathrow, those that have landed, and which runway they used. We worked hard to distill this complex nature of moving parts into a coherent easy to comprehend experience. We also added an archive, offering day-by-day and month-by-month breakdowns of air traffic — including flights landed after 11pm, breaking Heathrow's night curfew.

To round it all off, we created a Near Me map. When activated, it gives you a live view of noise impact in your area in real time plane-by-plane.The site also features a Windsor mode, which would essentially flip the whole site on its head and present a version aimed at people living West of the airport.