Sit on the Right side of the plane for the best views on flights from London to Colombia. The right side wins overall. The Thames valley and Windsor Castle departure view is genuinely spectacular and hard to beat. Over the Atlantic the views are similar on both sides, but the right side also picks up the southern tip of Greenland's ice sheet and the Canadian Maritime coastline as the flight arcs on a great circle route. The left side landing view at CAE is better but the departure experience on the right tips the balance.

During takeoff from Heathrow (LHR), sit on the Right side for the best views. Heathrow departures on the eastbound runways (09L/09R) head east over London before turning northwest for transatlantic routing. Right side gives you a clear view south over the Thames valley, Windsor, and the city sprawl. Left side faces north toward Slough and suburban Middlesex with less to see. Notable sights include: Windsor Castle and Windsor Great Park, the Thames snaking east toward central London, the M25 orbital motorway, Wembley Stadium arch visible to the northeast.

When landing at Columbia Metropolitan (CAE), sit on the Left side for the best views. CAE sits southeast of Columbia, SC, and aircraft typically approach from the northeast on runway 11 or from the west on runway 29. On a transatlantic routing arriving from the northeast, the left side faces north and northwest, giving views over the Congaree River, downtown Columbia, and Lake Murray to the northwest. Right side faces south over flat pine forest with little of interest. Notable sights include: Lake Murray reservoir to the northwest, Congaree River winding south of Columbia, downtown Columbia's modest skyline, Fort Jackson military reservation to the east.

The flight from Heathrow (LHR) to Columbia Metropolitan (CAE) takes Approximately 9 to 9.5 hours.

The great circle route from LHR to CAE tracks northwest over Ireland, then across the North Atlantic passing south of Iceland and over the southern tip of Greenland where the ice sheet is visible. The route then crosses Labrador and Quebec in Canada, descending over New England and the US Mid-Atlantic states — the Appalachian Mountains are visible as a broad ridged spine running northeast to southwest before the aircraft descends into the South Carolina Piedmont.