TORONTO – More than 30 years after the last mission in North America, the acrobastic team “Frecce Tricolori” of the Italian Air Force will return this year to sail the skies of Canada and US: starting from 22 June, in fact, the National Acrobatic Team (Pattuglia Acrobatica Nazionale- PAN ) will carry out air demonstrations in many North American locations, including – to name a few – Toronto, Niagara, Ottawa, Montreal, New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Washington, Boston and Los Angeles. 

It was the year 1992 when the “Frecce Tricolori” performed for the last time in North America: that mission was “Columbus ’92” (for the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America) and before that there had been just one another in 1986: the event scheduled for the summer of 2024 – and called The North America Tour (NAT) – therefore represents a rare occasion, but the program is rich and the spectacle offered by PAN can be seen by hundreds of thousands of people.

The tour will open on June 22nd with a performance in the skies of Bagotville, Canada, to celebrate “together with Canadian friends – explain the leaders of the Italian Air Force – the hundredth birthday of the Royal Canadian Air Force, in a meeting between two realities with a centenary history and traditions made up of common values”.

The NAT will then continue for the entire summer season, until early September, with flyovers and performances in numerous locations in Canada and the United States, where the PAN will be an ambassador of Italian excellence. Among the numerous stops (Niagara, Montreal, Ottawa, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon/Monument Valley, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Moose Jaw, Chicago, Toronto, Philadelphia, New York, Washington, Newport and Boston) there is also one in Los Angeles where, on July 4th, with the arrival of the Vespucci Navy ship engaged in a round-the-world trip, two Italian Defense excellences will meet for a big tricolor hug abroad.

“The NAT – explain further the leaders of the Italian Air Force  – will showcase the capabilities of Italy’s highly technological and forward-thinking Air Force. Our personnel and cutting-edge equipment can be rapidly deployed anywhere in the world, ensuring our ability to operate effectively in any global location. This is also in the perspective of exercising the National Rapid Expeditionary capability from Space, as a concrete implementation of the rapid deployment of forces to a geographically distant location, testing its logistical and security capabilities throughout the duration of the deployment”. And, also, the NAT “will also be an opportunity to represent Italy in the world, an opportunity for the entire “country system” to spread the “made in Italy” overseas, also promoting the national industry in places where millions of people belonging to the Italian-Canadian and Italian-American communities live”.

Meanwhile, tomorrow – Wednesday 1st May – the final flight of the training phase of the “Frecce Tricolori” will take place at the Rivolto (Udine, Italy) air base, home of the 313th Acrobatic Training Group of the Italian Air Force: it’s the prelude to the start of the 2024 aerobatic season, the 64th since the foundation of the National Acrobatic Team (PAN). The event, which will see various political and military authorities as guests of honour, will be chaired by the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Air Squadron General Luca Goretti. The National Acrobatic Team will propose the complete acrobatic program on this occasion, which will then be presented in all performances of the season. As in previous editions, the event will see the influx of enthusiasts belonging to the 136 Frecce Tricolori Clubs, coming from all over Italy.

The PAN season will officially open on Sunday 5 May in Caorle (Venice) and, as usual, will visit many Italian locations before arriving in North America for the North America Tour: further details on the NAT, with the list of all the dates and locations, are here. One of the events will be on 29 and 30 June in Trenton, Ontario, on the occasion of the Quinte International Airshow 2024: the Italian Consulate in Toronto gave a news preview of the event, providing further details on its website, here.

Photo: Aeronautica Militare