ISTRANA - 5TH OF APRIL, 2024: After more than 35 years of honorable service with the colors of the Aeronautica Militare (Italian Air Force), the AMX has been phased out!
Right here, at Istrana Air Base- home of the 51st Wing - landed in 1989 the first 'Ghibli', the nickname officially given to the aircraft.
In these 35 years of service, Italian AMXs have logged approximately 240,000 flight hours, of which 18,500 in real operations, also taking part in numerous operational theaters, including the missions in the Balkans, Libya, Afghanistan, and Iraq
The international exercises have seen the AMXs fly across the skies of 33 nations, from cold Norway to Canada and to the hot desert of Kuwait; in Italy the aircraft have often been called upon to carry out reconnaissance missions to support the population during emergencies and national disasters, or to support government agencies to combat illicit activities.
Over the years the AMX has also flown with the colors of the 2nd, 3rd and 32nd Wing.
Although officially removed from operational service, the AMX will not definitively stop flying: the last four examples - two single-seaters and two two-seaters - will be kept in flight conditions, at Piacenza airport, home of the soon-to-be-formed Flying Museum of the Air Force, to allow all aviation enthusiasts to be able to still admire this aircraft flying over our skies on the occasion of particular events or celebrations.