Nonstop flight route between Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States and Ponce, Puerto Rico:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Pope Field (POB), Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States and Mercedita Airport (PSE), Ponce, Puerto Rico would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,411 miles (or 2,270 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 Pope Field 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 Pope Field (POB):

• The United States Army Fort Bragg Garrison is the host organization at Pope Field.
• The drop zones, low-level routes, and dirt landing zones at Fort Bragg became familiar to many men bound for Southeast Asia.
• The United States Air Force 43d Airlift Group was activated at Pope on March 1, 2011.
• On September 21, 1954, Ninth AF turned Pope over to the 464th Troop Carrier Wing which transferred from Lawson AFB, Georgia.
• The closest airport to Pope Field (POB) is Simmons Army Airfield (FBG), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) ESE of POB.
• During its time at Pope, a major period of facility expansion occurred.
• The furthest airport from Pope Field (POB) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,630 miles (18,716 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Original operations included photographing terrain for mapping, carrying the mail, and spotting for artillery and forest fires.
• Lessons learned in the Gulf War in 1990-1991 led senior defense planners to conclude that the structure of the military establishment created numerous command and control problems.

Facts about Mercedita Airport (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.
• Realtime departures and arrivals information is available online.
• During 2007, more passengers passed through the airport than the population of the entire city of Ponce itself.
• Built in 1939, Mercedita was originally a modest aerodrome used for the airborne irrigation of sugarcane fields belonging to Destilería Serrallés.
• 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.
• The Puerto Rico Ports Authority recently announced an investment of 7 million dollars to extend Mercedita's runway to 8,000 feet.
• 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 1949, however, it was determined that the runway of the Ponce Airport at the nearby Losey Field no longer met the newer and more stringent minimum airport safety requirements, and airport operations were suspended.
• In addition to being known as "Mercedita Airport", other names for PSE include "Aeropuerto Mercedita" and "18.00'30"N, 66.33'47"W".
• 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.