Nonstop flight route between Hayden, Colorado, United States and Ponce, Puerto Rico:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Yampa Valley Airport (HDN), Hayden, Colorado, United States and Mercedita Airport (PSE), Ponce, Puerto Rico would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,864 miles (or 4,610 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 Yampa Valley 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 Yampa Valley 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 Yampa Valley Airport (HDN):

• The airport is in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which called it a primary commercial service airport.Federal Aviation Administration records say it had 136,600 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 122,480 in 2009 and 110,044 in 2010.
• In addition to being known as "Yampa Valley Airport", another name for HDN is "Yampa Valley Regional Airport".
• The furthest airport from Yampa Valley Airport (HDN) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,901 miles (17,543 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Because of Yampa Valley Airport's high elevation of 6,606 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at HDN. Combined with a high temperature, this could make HDN a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to Yampa Valley Airport (HDN) is Craig–Moffat Airport (CIG), which is located only 16 miles (26 kilometers) W of HDN.
• Yampa Valley Airport (HDN) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Mercedita Airport (PSE):

• Federal Express and DHL operate out of this airport for the distribution of surface freight.
• Mercedita Airport (PSE) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• On August 12, 1981, an Air Florida plane with 125 Haitian refugees aboard landed at Mercedita en route to the Fort Allen facility in Juana Diaz, part of the 1981 Haitian refugees exodus.
• 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.
• Passenger movement at the airport in FY 2008 was 278,911, a 1,228% increase over fiscal year 2003 and the highest of all the regional airports for that 5-year period.
• The Puerto Rico Ports Authority recently announced an investment of 7 million dollars to extend Mercedita's runway to 8,000 feet.
• 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 addition to being known as "Mercedita Airport", other names for PSE include "Aeropuerto Mercedita" and "18.00'30"N, 66.33'47"W".
• During 2007, more passengers passed through the airport than the population of the entire city of Ponce itself.