Sit on the Right side of the plane for the best views on flights from Houston to Panama City. While the left side has a good Houston departure view, the right side wins overall. It captures the Gulf of Mexico coastline as you leave Texas, the Yucatan Peninsula's turquoise Caribbean waters and reef systems as you cross Mexico, and then delivers the dramatic Panama City skyline and Canal approach on landing — a consistently more scenic sequence across the full flight.

During takeoff from George Bush Intcntl Houston (IAH), sit on the Left side for the best views. IAH's primary departure runways (15L/15R heading southeast, or 27 heading west) mean a left-side seat gives you the Houston skyline and the Ship Channel industrial complex as you climb out. The downtown cluster of towers is clearly visible to the south-southeast, and the sprawling Port of Houston tank farms and refineries along the Buffalo Bayou corridor are unmistakable from altitude. Notable sights include: Houston downtown skyline, Port of Houston Ship Channel refineries, Galveston Bay glinting to the southeast, Lake Houston reservoir to the northeast.

When landing at Tocumen International (PTY), sit on the Right side for the best views. Tocumen typically uses runways oriented roughly east-west (03L/21R). On approach from the north, a right-side seat gives you Panama City's skyline along the Pacific coast of the Bay of Panama, including the distinctive Punta Pacifica tower cluster. You also get views of the Panama Canal's Pacific entrance at Miraflores and the Bridge of the Americas as you descend. Notable sights include: Panama City skyline (Punta Pacifica and Casco Viejo peninsula), Bridge of the Americas over the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, Bay of Panama, Miraflores Locks area.

The flight from George Bush Intcntl Houston (IAH) to Tocumen International (PTY) takes Approximately 3 hours 45 minutes to 4 hours 15 minutes.

The flight tracks southeast over the Gulf of Mexico, crossing the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico where the flat limestone shelf and patches of jungle are visible. Over the Caribbean side you may see the Belize barrier reef system as a turquoise band in the water. The route then crosses Honduras and Nicaragua, where the central highland ridges of the Central American cordillera appear as a spine of green mountains. Costa Rica's volcanic peaks including Arenal may be visible near the horizon before descending into Panama.