Nonstop flight route between Santiago, Chile and Ponce, Puerto Rico:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL), Santiago, Chile and Mercedita Airport (PSE), Ponce, Puerto Rico would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,562 miles (or 5,733 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 Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International 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 Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International 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 Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL):

• The demands of the growing metropolitan area of Santiago and the need for modern, jet-era airport facilities, which could safely accommodate both domestic and intercontinental flights, drove the need to relocate the Chilean capital's principal airport from Los Cerrillos Airport in the denser southwest metropolitan region of Santiago to the more rural northwest metropolitan area.
• Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL) has 2 runways.
• In June 2013, the Chilean Ministry of Public Works started Phase 1 of the airport expansion, to be completed in 2014.
• The closest airport to Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL) is Viña del Mar Airport (KNA), which is located 50 miles (81 kilometers) NW of SCL.
• The furthest airport from Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL) is Ankang Wulipu Airport (AKA), which is nearly antipodal to Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (meaning Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ankang Wulipu Airport), and is located 12,387 miles (19,934 kilometers) away in Ankang, Shaanxi, China.
• In addition to being known as "Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport", other names for SCL include "Pudahuel Airport" and "Santiago International Airport".
• In June 2011, Santiago International Airport received the Air Cargo Excellence Award, as the best Latin American Cargo Airport.

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.
• 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.
• Realtime departures and arrivals information is available online.
• 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 addition to being known as "Mercedita Airport", other names for PSE include "Aeropuerto Mercedita" and "18.00'30"N, 66.33'47"W".
• 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.
• The airport has been enlarged on various occasions.
• 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.