Nonstop flight route between Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia and Ponce, Puerto Rico:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Broken Hill Airport (BHQ), Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia and Mercedita Airport (PSE), Ponce, Puerto Rico would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,442 miles (or 16,805 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 large distance between Broken Hill Airport and Mercedita Airport, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.

Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between Broken Hill Airport and Mercedita Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Broken Hill Airport (BHQ):

• The furthest airport from Broken Hill Airport (BHQ) is Flores Airport (FLW), which is located 11,776 miles (18,951 kilometers) away in Flores Island, Azores, Portugal.
• Because of Broken Hill Airport's relatively low elevation of 959 feet, planes can take off or land at Broken Hill 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.
• Broken Hill Airport handled 63,098 passengers last year.
• The airport currently is used as a base of operations for the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia South-Eastern section thus making it a very important hub for this service.
• Broken Hill Airport was ranked 51st in Australia for the number of revenue passengers served in financial year 2009-2010.
• The closest airport to Broken Hill Airport (BHQ) is Mildura Airport (MQL), which is located 158 miles (254 kilometers) SSE of BHQ.
• It is also used extensively by the mining industry.
• Broken Hill Airport (BHQ) has 2 runways.

Facts about Mercedita Airport (PSE):

• Built in 1939, Mercedita was originally a modest aerodrome used for the airborne irrigation of sugarcane fields belonging to Destilería Serrallés.
• 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.
• As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 110,159 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 90,267 enplanements in 2009, and 97,660 in 2010.
• Mercedita Airport (PSE) currently has only 1 runway.
• On July 1, 2011, a Cessna 185 that was supposed to land at Mercedita airport with a family of five on board, registration number N8438Q, crashed while on its way from Culebra.
• The airport is also home of the southern aerial division of the Puerto Rico Police Department.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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 the fall of 1992, the runway was extended to make it possible for American Airlines to run flights to Miami, Florida.