Nonstop flight route between New York City, New York, United States and Ponce, Puerto Rico:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between West 30th Street Heliport (JRA), New York City, New York, United States and Mercedita Airport (PSE), Ponce, Puerto Rico would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,633 miles (or 2,628 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 West 30th Street Heliport 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 West 30th Street Heliport (JRA):

• Because of West 30th Street Heliport's relatively low elevation of 7 feet, planes can take off or land at West 30th Street Heliport 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.
• The closest airport to West 30th Street Heliport (JRA) is East 34th Street Heliport (TSS), which is located only 2 miles (3 kilometers) ESE of JRA.
• The furthest airport from West 30th Street Heliport (JRA) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,750 miles (18,910 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Tourist flights out of the 30th Street Heliport are scheduled to move to Downtown Manhattan Heliport on March 31, 2010 and the heliport itself is scheduled to relocate by on December 31, 2012 as a result of a court agreement between helicopter operators and Friends of Hudson River Park who took action to enforce the Hudson River Park Act which banned tourism flights from that location.

Facts about Mercedita Airport (PSE):

• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Mercedita Airport", other names for PSE include "Aeropuerto Mercedita" and "18.00'30"N, 66.33'47"W".
• 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.
• Mercedita Airport (PSE) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Mercedita Airport (PSE) is Antonio (Nery) Juarbe Pol Airport (ARE), which is located 31 miles (51 kilometers) NNW of PSE.
• 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.
• 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.
• The airport is also home of the southern aerial division of the Puerto Rico Police Department.
• Mercedita Airport covers an area of 274 acres at an elevation of 29 feet above mean sea level.