The award was presented in March at the Airbus Symposium in Dubai (United Arab Emirates).
The award, personally presented to the Commander of the Squadron, Colonel Danilo Morando, by Dr. Charles Champion, Airbus Executive Vice President of Customer Service, was awarded to the 31st Squadron as the world's first government operator to have believed in the A319 CJ (Corporative Jet) project, even ahead of France, followed by countries such as Brazil, Venezuela, Turkey, the Czech Republic and Germany.
The award was presented to all the staff of the Stormo, during the service lunch held on Thursday 29 April, in the presence of the Commander of the Forces for Mobility and Support, Brigadier General Vincenzo Parma, his Deputy, Colonel Michele Fucci, and Colonel Morando.
Officially entered service on March 7, 2000, the A319CJ was chosen to replace the old DC-9/30s and Gulfstream III aircraft in service with the 31st Air Wing’s 306th Group. To date, the A319CJ has performed its duties by carrying out numerous missions around the world: these include medical missions in Argentina, Namibia, and most recently those transporting humanitarian aid to Haiti.
