Nonstop flight route between Ponce, Puerto Rico and Kaohsiung, Taiwan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mercedita Airport (PSE), Ponce, Puerto Rico and Kaohsiung International Airport (Kaohsiung Siaogang Airport) (KHH), Kaohsiung, Taiwan would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,594 miles (or 15,440 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 Mercedita Airport and Kaohsiung International Airport (Kaohsiung Siaogang 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 Mercedita Airport and Kaohsiung International Airport (Kaohsiung Siaogang 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 Mercedita Airport (PSE):

• The closest airport to Mercedita Airport (PSE) is Antonio (Nery) Juarbe Pol Airport (ARE), which is located 31 miles (51 kilometers) NNW of 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.
• 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.
• The airport is also home of the southern aerial division of the Puerto Rico Police Department.
• On June 24, 1972, Prinair Flight 191, which took off from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, crashed while attempting to land at Mercedita Airport.
• 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.
• Mercedita Airport (PSE) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Mercedita Airport", other names for PSE include "Aeropuerto Mercedita" and "18.00'30"N, 66.33'47"W".

Facts about Kaohsiung International Airport (Kaohsiung Siaogang Airport) (KHH):

• The closest airport to Kaohsiung International Airport (Kaohsiung Siaogang Airport) (KHH) is Tainan Airport (TNN), which is located 27 miles (44 kilometers) NNW of KHH.
• In summer 1998, EVA Air opened a direct flight between Kaohsiung and Los Angeles, but it was discontinued only three months later due to low ridership.
• Both China Airlines and Uni Air operate charter flights from Kaohsiung to many Japanese cities including Asahigawa, Hakodate, Sapporo, Hanamaki, Obihiro, Nagasaki and Kumamoto, mostly during long vacations.
• During the 1970s and 1980s, direct international flights were rare in Siaogang Airport, with Hong Kong and Tokyo being the only two destinations.
• Because of Kaohsiung International Airport (Kaohsiung Siaogang Airport)'s relatively low elevation of 30 feet, planes can take off or land at Kaohsiung International Airport (Kaohsiung Siaogang 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 furthest airport from Kaohsiung International Airport (Kaohsiung Siaogang Airport) (KHH) is Dr. Luis María Argaña International Airport (ESG), which is nearly antipodal to Kaohsiung International Airport (Kaohsiung Siaogang Airport) (meaning Kaohsiung International Airport (Kaohsiung Siaogang Airport) is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Dr. Luis María Argaña International Airport), and is located 12,365 miles (19,899 kilometers) away in Mariscal Estigarribia, Paraguay.
• In addition to being known as "Kaohsiung International Airport (Kaohsiung Siaogang Airport)", other names for KHH include "高雄國際航空站高雄小港機場" and "Gāoxióng Guójì Hángkōngzhàn Gāoxióng Xiǎogǎng Jīchǎng".
• Kaohsiung International Airport (Kaohsiung Siaogang Airport) (KHH) currently has only 1 runway.
• The domestic terminal was built in 1965 when the airport was first opened as a civilian airport.