Nonstop flight route between Orchid Island, Taitung County, Taiwan and Ponce, Puerto Rico:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lanyu Airport (KYD), Orchid Island, Taitung County, Taiwan and Mercedita Airport (PSE), Ponce, Puerto Rico would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,617 miles (or 15,477 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 Lanyu 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 Lanyu 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 Lanyu Airport (KYD):

• In addition to being known as "Lanyu Airport", other names for KYD include "蘭嶼航空站蘭嶼機場" and "Lányǔ HángkōngzhànLányǔ Jīchǎng".
• Lanyu Airport (KYD) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Lanyu Airport (KYD) is Dr. Luis María Argaña International Airport (ESG), which is nearly antipodal to Lanyu Airport (meaning Lanyu Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Dr. Luis María Argaña International Airport), and is located 12,299 miles (19,794 kilometers) away in Mariscal Estigarribia, Paraguay.
• Because of Lanyu Airport's relatively low elevation of 44 feet, planes can take off or land at Lanyu 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 Lanyu Airport (KYD) is Lyudao Airport (Green Island Airport) (GNI), which is located 45 miles (72 kilometers) N of KYD.

Facts about Mercedita Airport (PSE):

• The airport is also home of the southern aerial division of the Puerto Rico Police Department.
• The closest airport to Mercedita Airport (PSE) is Antonio (Nery) Juarbe Pol Airport (ARE), which is located 31 miles (51 kilometers) NNW of PSE.
• During 2007, more passengers passed through the airport than the population of the entire city of Ponce itself.
• On July 1, 2011, a Cessna 185 that was supposed to land at Mercedita airport with a family of five on board, registration number N8438Q, crashed while on its way from Culebra.
• Mercedita Airport is a public use airport located three nautical miles east of the central business district of Ponce, Puerto Rico.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Mercedita Airport", other names for PSE include "Aeropuerto Mercedita" and "18.00'30"N, 66.33'47"W".
• 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.
• 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.
• Mercedita Airport (PSE) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.