Nonstop flight route between Northway, Alaska, United States and Ponce, Puerto Rico:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Northway Airport (ORT), Northway, Alaska, United States and Mercedita Airport (PSE), Ponce, Puerto Rico would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,656 miles (or 7,492 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 Northway 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 Northway 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 Northway Airport (ORT):

• Northway Airport covers an area of 1,150 acres at an elevation of 1,715 feet above mean sea level.
• In addition to being known as "Northway Airport", another name for ORT is "(former Northway Airfield)".
• The furthest airport from Northway Airport (ORT) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,363 miles (16,678 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• Northway Airport (ORT) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Northway Airport (ORT) is Tok Airport (TKJ), which is located 41 miles (66 kilometers) NW of ORT.
• During World War II for northbound Lend-Lease aircraft on the Northwest Staging Route, the flight strip at Northway was the first stop in the Territory of Alaska.

Facts about Mercedita Airport (PSE):

• Mercedita Airport is a public use airport located three nautical miles east of the central business district of Ponce, Puerto Rico.
• The closest airport to Mercedita Airport (PSE) is Antonio (Nery) Juarbe Pol Airport (ARE), which is located 31 miles (51 kilometers) NNW of PSE.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Built in 1939, Mercedita was originally a modest aerodrome used for the airborne irrigation of sugarcane fields belonging to Destilería Serrallés.
• 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.