Nonstop flight route between Pasco, Washington, United States and Ponce, Puerto Rico:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Tri-Cities Airport (PSC), Pasco, Washington, United States and Mercedita Airport (PSE), Ponce, Puerto Rico would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,555 miles (or 5,722 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 Tri-Cities 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 Tri-Cities 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 Tri-Cities Airport (PSC):

• Tri-Cities Airport is a public airport 2 miles northwest of Pasco, in Franklin County, Washington, USA.
• Pasco has had jet flights on several airlines, including Air West and Hughes Airwest with Douglas DC-9s, Cascade Airways with BAC One-Elevens, Delta Airlines with Boeing 727-200s and 737-300s, Alaska Airlines with Boeing 727s,Horizon Air with Fokker F-28s and West Coast Airlines with DC-9s.
• The airport is undergoing a major resurfacing of the runways, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
• General and corporate aviation are important to PSC and they have many facilities to accommodate them.
• The closest airport to Tri-Cities Airport (PSC) is Richland Airport (RLD), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) WNW of PSC.
• The furthest airport from Tri-Cities Airport (PSC) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,781 miles (17,350 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• PSC also has commercial air traffic.
• An expansion and remodel project took place in 1986 that included access roads, parking lots, aircraft parking apron and more than doubling the size of the terminal.
• Because of Tri-Cities Airport's relatively low elevation of 407 feet, planes can take off or land at Tri-Cities 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.
• Tri-Cities Airport (PSC) has 3 runways.
• In 1955 the old administration building became the home of the newly established Columbia Basin College, which it remained until the current facility near Interstate 182 was built in 1966.

Facts about Mercedita Airport (PSE):

• 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 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.
• The airport is also home of the southern aerial division of the Puerto Rico Police Department.
• The airport has been enlarged on various occasions.
• Mercedita Airport (PSE) currently has only 1 runway.
• The takeoff/landing strip was then only 850 feet long by 50 feet wide.
• 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.
• Built in 1939, Mercedita was originally a modest aerodrome used for the airborne irrigation of sugarcane fields belonging to Destilería Serrallés.
• In the fall of 1992, the runway was extended to make it possible for American Airlines to run flights to Miami, Florida.
• Mercedita Airport covers an area of 274 acres at an elevation of 29 feet above mean sea level.
• In addition to being known as "Mercedita Airport", other names for PSE include "Aeropuerto Mercedita" and "18.00'30"N, 66.33'47"W".