Nonstop flight route between Ponce, Puerto Rico and Apiay, Colombia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mercedita Airport (PSE), Ponce, Puerto Rico and Captain Luis F. Gómez Niño Air Base (Apiay Air Base) (API), Apiay, Colombia would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,073 miles (or 1,726 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 Mercedita Airport and Captain Luis F. Gómez Niño Air Base (Apiay Air Base), the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Mercedita Airport (PSE):

• 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.
• 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 airport is also home of the southern aerial division of the Puerto Rico Police Department.
• In addition to being known as "Mercedita Airport", other names for PSE include "Aeropuerto Mercedita" and "18.00'30"N, 66.33'47"W".
• 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.
• Mercedita Airport covers an area of 274 acres at an elevation of 29 feet above mean sea level.
• The Puerto Rico Ports Authority recently announced an investment of 7 million dollars to extend Mercedita's runway to 8,000 feet.
• Mercedita Airport (PSE) currently has only 1 runway.
• In February 2009, Ponce mayor María Meléndez sought transfer of the airport from the Puerto Rico central government to the Ponce Municipal government amidst discontent with the bureaucracy at the central government that could be avoided if the airport was locally managed.
• 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 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.
• In the fall of 1992, the runway was extended to make it possible for American Airlines to run flights to Miami, Florida.

Facts about Captain Luis F. Gómez Niño Air Base (Apiay Air Base) (API):

• The closest airport to Captain Luis F. Gómez Niño Air Base (Apiay Air Base) (API) is El Dorado International Airport (BOG), which is located 59 miles (95 kilometers) NW of API.
• The furthest airport from Captain Luis F. Gómez Niño Air Base (Apiay Air Base) (API) is Gunung Batin Airport (AKQ), which is nearly antipodal to Captain Luis F. Gómez Niño Air Base (Apiay Air Base) (meaning Captain Luis F. Gómez Niño Air Base (Apiay Air Base) is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Gunung Batin Airport), and is located 12,346 miles (19,869 kilometers) away in Astraksetra, Indonesia.
• The air base resides at an elevation of 1,227 feet above mean sea level.
• Captain Luis F. Gómez Niño Air Base (Apiay Air Base) (API) currently has only 1 runway.
• Apiay has served as base for operations such as Plan Patriota which included operations such as Operation JM.
• In addition to being known as "Captain Luis F. Gómez Niño Air Base (Apiay Air Base)", another name for API is "Base Aérea Capitán Luis F. Gómez Niño (Base Aérea de Apiay)".