Nonstop flight route between Camp Springs, Maryland, United States and Ponce, Puerto Rico:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Andrews Field (ADW), Camp Springs, Maryland, United States and Mercedita Airport (PSE), Ponce, Puerto Rico would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,565 miles (or 2,519 kilometers).

A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the relatively short distance between Andrews Field and Mercedita Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Andrews Field (ADW):

• The closest airport to Andrews Field (ADW) is Bolling Air Force Base (BOF), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) WNW of ADW.
• There are two runways on the base.
• In the late 1950s Andrews began an annual open house and air show on base.
• The furthest airport from Andrews Field (ADW) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,691 miles (18,815 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Union American Civil War used a country church near Camp Springs, Maryland for sleeping quarters and on 25 August 1941, President Roosevelt directed use of the land for an airfield.
• Andrews Air Force Base was designated on 24 June 1948, and in June 1950, Andrews rapidly became involved in combat readiness training for B-25 Mitchell medium bomber crews.
• Andrews transferred from the Army to the 1947 United States Air Force and Headquarters Command held command reins at Andrews from 1947 through 1952 and again after 1957.
• In October 1977, the 76th Airlift Division became the 76th Military Airlift Wing.

Facts about Mercedita Airport (PSE):

• Mercedita Airport (PSE) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Mercedita Airport (PSE) is Antonio (Nery) Juarbe Pol Airport (ARE), which is located 31 miles (51 kilometers) NNW of PSE.
• In addition to being known as "Mercedita Airport", other names for PSE include "Aeropuerto Mercedita" and "18.00'30"N, 66.33'47"W".
• The first scheduled commercial flights at Mercedita occurred in 1965 when domestic flights started.
• After Ponce's mayor Rafael Cordero signed a contract to build a major seaport in the area, Mercedita's directors decided to expand the airport's runway to 8,000 ft to accommodate anticipated growth in airline traffic.
• The Puerto Rico Ports Authority recently announced an investment of 7 million dollars to extend Mercedita's runway to 8,000 feet.
• In early 2010, members of the Ponce Chamber of Commerce strongly criticized the Puerto Rico Ports Authority and its director Alvaro Pilar Villagran after failure to execute on a legally binding agreement of November 2008, whereby the Ports Authority agreed to an investment of $8 million to build an airport drainage system needed as part of any additional expansion work.
• Because of Mercedita Airport's relatively low elevation of 29 feet, planes can take off or land at Mercedita Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
• Mercedita Airport covers an area of 274 acres at an elevation of 29 feet above mean sea level.
• The furthest airport from Mercedita Airport (PSE) is Barrow Island Airport (BWB), which is nearly antipodal to Mercedita Airport (meaning Mercedita Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Barrow Island Airport), and is located 12,201 miles (19,636 kilometers) away in Barrow Island, Western Australia, Australia.
• In February 2009, Ponce mayor María Meléndez sought transfer of the airport from the Puerto Rico central government to the Ponce Municipal government amidst discontent with the bureaucracy at the central government that could be avoided if the airport was locally managed.