Nonstop flight route between Palm Springs, California, United States and Ponce, Puerto Rico:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport (TRM), Palm Springs, California, United States and Mercedita Airport (PSE), Ponce, Puerto Rico would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,234 miles (or 5,205 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 Jacqueline Cochran Regional 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 Jacqueline Cochran Regional 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 Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport (TRM):

• The closest airport to Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport (TRM) is Bermuda Dunes Airport (UDD), which is located only 11 miles (17 kilometers) NW of TRM.
• The Navy closed Thermal on November 1, 1945, returning the field to the Army two months later.
• Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport (TRM) has 2 runways.
• Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport covers an area of 1,850 acres at an elevation of 115 feet below mean sea level.
• In addition to being known as "Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport", another name for TRM is "(former Thermal Army Air Field)".
• The War Assets Administration turned the military airfield to civil control during 1947 and 1948.
• The furthest airport from Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport (TRM) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,478 miles (18,472 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The airport is one mile west of the California State Route 86S expressway and six miles south of Interstate 10 in the lower Coachella Valley of central Riverside County, an area known as the Desert Resorts Region.
• Because of Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of -115 feet, planes can take off or land at Jacqueline Cochran Regional 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.
• Phased down in 1944 after most Army units had deployed overseas to combat areas, Thermal had been inactive for six months when the United States Navy requested permission to occupy the base on December 2, 1944 with the stipulation that the Army could reoccupy with 30-days notice.

Facts about Mercedita Airport (PSE):

• The first scheduled commercial flights at Mercedita occurred in 1965 when domestic flights started.
• Realtime departures and arrivals information is available online.
• 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 Puerto Rico Ports Authority recently announced an investment of 7 million dollars to extend Mercedita's runway to 8,000 feet.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Mercedita Airport is a public use airport located three nautical miles east of the central business district of Ponce, Puerto Rico.
• Mercedita Airport covers an area of 274 acres at an elevation of 29 feet above mean sea level.
• 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.