The flight, for the benefit of an Italian citizen in need of medical care, was carried out with a Gulfstream G-650.

A special medical flight, carried out by the Air Force with a G-650 aircraft from the 31st Wing, concluded late this afternoon, bringing an Italian citizen in serious health condition back to Italy from Thailand, who required specialised medical treatment at national healthcare facilities.

The humanitarian flight, as these types of air transport are technically known, was requested by the Italian Embassy in Bangkok in coordination with the MAECI, and authorised by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, which manages the deployment of the State aircraft fleet.

Thanks to the type of aircraft used, it was possible to carry out the transport with a single intercontinental leg, with a twelve-hour non-stop flight that involved two crews who alternated during the mission. The Gulfstream G-650 took off on Monday 20 April from Ciampino Airport with a medical team on board, heading for Bangkok International Airport in Thailand. Once all the procedures for safely boarding the patient were completed, the aircraft returned to Italy, departing from Bangkok this morning and landing in the late afternoon at Milan Linate Airport – the base of the Airport Command and Headquarters of the Air Squad Command and 1st Air Region of Milan – for subsequent transfer to San Raffaele Hospital.

The 31st Wing, like other flying units of the Italian Air Force, is available to the community 24 hours a day, every day of the year, with aircraft and crews capable of operating with the utmost promptness to ensure the urgent transport of people in imminent danger of life, organs, or medical teams. This special service is guaranteed not only by the aircraft of the 31st Wing from Ciampino, but also by those of the 14th Wing from Pratica di Mare and the 46th Air Brigade from Pisa, always ready for take-off at very short notice throughout the national territory, also covering needs involving Italian citizens abroad.