Nonstop flight route between Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea and Ponce, Puerto Rico:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mount Hagen Airport (HGU), Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea and Mercedita Airport (PSE), Ponce, Puerto Rico would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,192 miles (or 16,403 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 Mount Hagen 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 Mount Hagen 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 Mount Hagen Airport (HGU):

• The furthest airport from Mount Hagen Airport (HGU) is Pinto Martins – Fortaleza International Airport (FOR), which is located 11,745 miles (18,902 kilometers) away in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.
• Because of Mount Hagen Airport's high elevation of 5,388 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at HGU. Combined with a high temperature, this could make HGU a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Mount Hagen Airport (HGU) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Mount Hagen Airport (HGU) is Chimbu Airport (CMU), which is located 48 miles (78 kilometers) ESE of HGU.

Facts about Mercedita Airport (PSE):

• The closest airport to Mercedita Airport (PSE) is Antonio (Nery) Juarbe Pol Airport (ARE), which is located 31 miles (51 kilometers) NNW of PSE.
• Mercedita Airport (PSE) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.