Mercedita International Airport

Early history Built in 1939, Mercedita was originally a modest aerodrome used for the airborne irrigation of sugarcane fields belonging to Destilería Serrallés. To commemorate this, a portrait of Mrs. Mercedes Serrallés was unveiled in the airport on 30 December 1992 by then-governor of Puerto Rico Rafael Hernandez Colon. The takeoff/landing strip was then only long by wide. In 1949, however, it was determined that the runway of what was then the Ponce Airport at the nearby Losey Field (today, Fort Allen, Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico) no longer met the newer and more stringent minimum airport safety requirements, and airport operations were suspended. As a result, studies were initiated for the construction of a new airport at Mercedita Airfield. The first scheduled commercial flights at Mercedita occurred in 1965 when domestic flights started. International flights started in 1971. Meanwhile, Aerolineas de Ponce began services from Mercedita in 1966; the airline had a hub at the airport but soon had most of its flight operating from San Juan instead and changed its name to Prinair. On 12 August 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. New airport The airport has been enlarged on various occasions. One of the architects credited with the airport's construction is Raúl Gayá Benejam. In 1962, Trade Winds started daily direct service to St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. One major construction project, in particular, took place in 1963 when the runway was extended from to 3,900 feet. Also in the fall of 1992, the Puerto Rico Ports Authority spent another $6 million in improvements to the terminal building. These included an additional space in the baggage claim, immigration, customs, passenger waiting areas, vending areas, and Department of Agriculture installations. The airport was formerly called Mercedita Airport, but on 1 November 1990 it was inaugurated as "Mercedita International Airport" after addition of customs and border control facilities. 2000s-2010 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 to accommodate anticipated growth in airline traffic. On 17 June 2005, JetBlue began daily, non-stop service between John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and Mercedita Airport. On 17 November 2005, Continental Airlines also commenced non-stop service, between Newark Liberty International Airport and Ponce. This service ended on 17 January 2008. On 3 June 2006, Delta Connection began servicing the airport, with twice-weekly, regional jet service to Atlanta, Georgia. The service ended on 20 January 2007. JetBlue has also added daily, non-stop service between Ponce and Orlando International Airport. During 2007, more passengers passed through the airport than the population of the entire city of Ponce itself. "Ponce's Mercedita airport served 251,000 passengers in 2007, an increase of 28% over the previous year." 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. 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. In 2010, the Puerto Rico Ports Authority announced an investment of $7 million to extend Mercedita's runway to . Construction began in February 2011. In 2012 the Authority installed two boarding bridges among other terminal improvements. ==Facilities and aircraft==

Mercedita Airport covers an area of at an elevation of above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 12/30 with an asphalt surface measuring . Runway length includes displaced thresholds on Runways 12 and 30 respectively. Most of the airport is located in Ponce's Vayas barrio, but the western end of the runway (west of Calle la Esperanza) extends into the Sabanetas barrio. The airport is home to the southern aerial division of the Puerto Rico Police Department. It also has two heavy rescue vehicles. ==Airlines and destinations==

Passenger Temporary closure The airport stopped handling scheduled commercial passenger flights on 23 March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cargo flights as well as chartered passenger flights were not affected. Flights were scheduled to resume on 6 July 2020, but that date was later revised to 5 August. However, that August 5 date was also later revised to 1 January 2021. During its closure, repairs were made to the airport's taxiway at a cost of $12.8 million. It reopened on 1 April 2021. ==Statistics==

Traffic statistics Top destinations ==Air service history==

United States United States air service history at Mercedita has been as follows: • In June 1975, Eastern Airlines started a weekly direct flight to New York City with a stop-over in San Juan. In the same year the Puerto Rico Ports Authority built a new runway, access road, parking lot, and shoulder. • In 1990, Eastern Airlines restarted operations to Ponce with a flight to New York, but it ceased a year later, in January, 1991. • In 1990, Carnival Airlines also started operations in Ponce, and flew to New York and Miami until February 1998. • Meanwhile, American Airlines started to fly to Miami from 1 November 1992. The flight ended on 12 September 1993 due to poor load factor • On 17 November 2005, Continental Airlines began daily non-stop service from Newark Liberty International Airport and Ponce. This service ended on 17 January 2008. • In November 2007, Spirit Airlines started daily non-stop service from Fort Lauderdale. This service ended in September 2008. • On 3 June 2006, Delta Connection began servicing the airport, with twice-weekly, regional jet service to Atlanta, Georgia. The service ended on 20 January 2007. • JetBlue started service to New York in June 2005. Some time later it also started flying to Orlando and Fort Lauderdale Intra-island In addition, several carriers have flown intra-island from Ponce: flying to Mercedita until 30 April 2011. Freight DHL and FedEx operate air cargo services. ==Accidents and incidents==

• On 24 June 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. Two crew and three passengers of the 20 on board died. • On 1 July 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. One body was found in Humacao. The other four passengers are presumed dead. While not directly associated with this Ponce airport, it is worth noting that the first airplane accident in Puerto Rico occurred in Ponce on 2 December 1911. American airman Tod Schiever died while in an exhibition flight in Ponce, losing control of his plane at a height of 200 feet while making a turn and plunged into a sugar cane field. Another airman also taking part in the exhibition flight, George Smitt (sometimes spelled George Schmidt) completed his exhibition without any eventualities. ==See also==