Nonstop flight route between Vieux-Fort, Saint Lucia and Ponce, Puerto Rico:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hewanorra International Airport (UVF), Vieux-Fort, Saint Lucia and Mercedita Airport (PSE), Ponce, Puerto Rico would travel a Great Circle distance of 476 miles (or 765 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 Hewanorra International Airport and Mercedita Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Hewanorra International Airport (UVF):

• Because of Hewanorra International Airport's relatively low elevation of 14 feet, planes can take off or land at Hewanorra International 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 Hewanorra International Airport (UVF) is Umbu Mehang Kunda Airport (WGP), which is nearly antipodal to Hewanorra International Airport (meaning Hewanorra International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Umbu Mehang Kunda Airport), and is located 12,143 miles (19,543 kilometers) away in Waingapu, Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia.
• Hewanorra International Airport (UVF) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport is a Fire Category 9 airport that handles 500,000 passengers a year and has the capability to handle the Boeing 747, Airbus A330, Airbus A340, Boeing 777 and other similar long range intercontinental aircraft.
• The airport houses the Hewanorra Outstation of the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority.
• The closest airport to Hewanorra International Airport (UVF) is George F. L. Charles Airport (SLU), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) N of UVF.

Facts about Mercedita Airport (PSE):

• Built in 1939, Mercedita was originally a modest aerodrome used for the airborne irrigation of sugarcane fields belonging to Destilería Serrallés.
• 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".
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.