Nonstop flight route between Mildenhall, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom and Ponce, Puerto Rico:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), Mildenhall, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom and Mercedita Airport (PSE), Ponce, Puerto Rico would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,275 miles (or 6,881 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 RAF Mildenhall 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 RAF Mildenhall 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 RAF Mildenhall (MHZ):

• The 488th Intelligence Squadron a component of the Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency, formerly the Air Intelligence Agency.
• The furthest airport from RAF Mildenhall (MHZ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,829 miles (19,037 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The 352 SOG is the Air Force component for Special Operations Command Europe, a sub-unified command of the US European Command.
• Placed on standby status after the war, it was reopened by the Royal Air Force and became a USAF-RAF joint operation base on 11 July 1950.
• The 501st Combat Support Wing was activated at RAF Mildenhall on 21 May 2005.
• On 1 October 2002, the 488th was re-aligned from the 67th Information Operations Wing to the 55th Wing.
• The present 488th Intelligence Squadron traces its lineage back to the 6954th Security Squadron which was originally designated Detachment 1 of the 6985th Security Squadron at RAF Upper Heyford, England, in June 1967.
• The 727 AMS is part of AMC's en route system that provides fixed and deployed maintenance, aerial port and command and control support to deployed command forces across the globe.
• The closest airport to RAF Mildenhall (MHZ) is RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) NE of MHZ.
• The mission of the 352 SOG is to serve as the focal point for all U.S.

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.
• The closest airport to Mercedita Airport (PSE) is Antonio (Nery) Juarbe Pol Airport (ARE), which is located 31 miles (51 kilometers) NNW of PSE.
• In early 2010, members of the Ponce Chamber of Commerce strongly criticized the Puerto Rico Ports Authority and its director Alvaro Pilar Villagran after failure to execute on a legally binding agreement of November 2008, whereby the Ports Authority agreed to an investment of $8 million to build an airport drainage system needed as part of any additional expansion work.
• 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.
• 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.
• Realtime departures and arrivals information is available online.
• Mercedita Airport (PSE) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Mercedita Airport", other names for PSE include "Aeropuerto Mercedita" and "18.00'30"N, 66.33'47"W".
• The airport has been enlarged on various occasions.
• During 2007, more passengers passed through the airport than the population of the entire city of Ponce itself.
• 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.