Nonstop flight route between Melville Hall (near Roseau), Dominica and Ponce, Puerto Rico:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Melville Hall Airport (DOM), Melville Hall (near Roseau), Dominica and Mercedita Airport (PSE), Ponce, Puerto Rico would travel a Great Circle distance of 387 miles (or 624 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 Melville Hall Airport 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 Melville Hall Airport (DOM):

• Melville Hall Airport (DOM) currently has only 1 runway.
• In 2006 an airport expansion and upgrade program began which entailed the expansion of the terminal building to include a new departure lounge, customs and immigration section and check in area.
• The closest airport to Melville Hall Airport (DOM) is Canefield Airport (DCF), which is located only 16 miles (25 kilometers) SSW of DOM.
• The furthest airport from Melville Hall Airport (DOM) is Broome International Airport (BME), which is nearly antipodal to Melville Hall Airport (meaning Melville Hall Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Broome International Airport), and is located 12,150 miles (19,554 kilometers) away in Broome, Western Australia, Australia.
• The Melville Hall area was chosen as the site for Dominica's main airport in 1944, for it was the only place on the island with extensive flat land.
• The airport houses the Dominica Outstation of the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority.
• The first ever night landing using the Instrument Flight Rules was conducted on 9 August 2010 by the Caribbean airline Winair.
• Because of Melville Hall Airport's relatively low elevation of 73 feet, planes can take off or land at Melville Hall 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.

Facts about Mercedita Airport (PSE):

• 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.
• The airport is also home of the southern aerial division of the Puerto Rico Police Department.
• 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 the fall of 1992, the runway was extended to make it possible for American Airlines to run flights to Miami, Florida.
• Mercedita Airport covers an area of 274 acres at an elevation of 29 feet above mean sea level.
• 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 Puerto Rico Ports Authority recently announced an investment of 7 million dollars to extend Mercedita's runway to 8,000 feet.
• On June 24, 1972, Prinair Flight 191, which took off from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, crashed while attempting to land at Mercedita Airport.
• 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.
• 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.
• In 1949, however, it was determined that the runway of the Ponce Airport at the nearby Losey Field no longer met the newer and more stringent minimum airport safety requirements, and airport operations were suspended.