Nonstop flight route between Karratha / Dampier, Western Australia, Australia and Ponce, Puerto Rico:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Karratha Airport (KTA), Karratha / Dampier, Western Australia, Australia and Mercedita Airport (PSE), Ponce, Puerto Rico would travel a Great Circle distance of 12,150 miles (or 19,554 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 Karratha 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 Karratha Airport and Mercedita Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

The distance between KTA and PSE makes them almost exactly antipodal (the exact opposite side of the world) to each other. Nonstop flights between Karratha Airport and Mercedita Airport would be very impractical for the airlines, because only a lightly loaded Boeing 777-200LR would be able to make the trip. Since airlines need to be able to take as many people and cargo as possible in order to make a profit, the odds of ever seeing a nonstop flight between KTA and PSE are slim to none. However, you'll still be able to get from Karratha / Dampier, Western Australia, Australia and Ponce, Puerto Rico by taking some connecting flights!

Did you know that one full circling of the Earth (measuring from the equator) is about 24,901.5 miles (or 40,075 kilometers), which means if you were 12,450 miles from any given point on the planet, the distance back to your starting point would be about the same -- in any direction! The same can be said for a nonstop flight between KTA and PSE!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Karratha Airport (KTA):

• Karratha Airport handled 675,207 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Karratha Airport (KTA) is Clayton J. Lloyd International Airport (AXA), which is nearly antipodal to Karratha Airport (meaning Karratha Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Clayton J. Lloyd International Airport), and is located 12,263 miles (19,736 kilometers) away in The Valley, Anguilla.
• The closest airport to Karratha Airport (KTA) is Barrow Island Airport (BWB), which is located 89 miles (143 kilometers) W of KTA.
• Karratha Airport (KTA) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Karratha Airport's relatively low elevation of 32 feet, planes can take off or land at Karratha 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):

• The takeoff/landing strip was then only 850 feet long by 50 feet wide.
• 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.
• 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.
• The first scheduled commercial flights at Mercedita occurred in 1965 when domestic flights started.
• 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 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.
• The airport is also home of the southern aerial division of the Puerto Rico Police Department.
• In addition to being known as "Mercedita Airport", other names for PSE include "Aeropuerto Mercedita" and "18.00'30"N, 66.33'47"W".
• 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.