REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY HAS often served as the catalyst for the introduction of air transport. Mountainous terrain, creating poor conditions for roads or railroads, and islands separated by miles of open sea are two factors that make transportation by air more attractive than surface alternatives. Puerto Rico and the nearby Virgin Islands were subject to both of these hindrances. Before the opening of Highway PR52 in 1968, road travel between San Juan and Puerto Rico's second largest city, Ponce-an air distance of 47 miles-took several hours. These conditions motivated Dennis Powelson, who had moved from the US mainland to Puerto Rico in 1936, to persuade a sugar refinery and rum distillery to purchase an airplane in 1937 in order to shuttle personnel between facilities in the two cities. Under the name of Powelson Air Service, scheduled flights were initiated between San Juan and Ponce on October 28,1938.
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