RIYADH, 23 July — Saudi authorities have granted landing permission to two Italian aircraft that will create history by retracing the route of the famous “Raid Rome-Tokyo Flight” of 1920. The two aircraft will land at Riyadh’s King Khaled International Airport on Wednesday carrying messages of goodwill and brotherhood.
“Italian crews flying two four-seater aircraft SIAI 205-20/R as part of the great revival of the Raid Rome-Tokyo Flight took off from Rome last Monday,” Brig. Gen. Dominico Mazza, defense attaché at the Italian Embassy, said here yesterday.
Mazza thanked Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal for giving landing permission for the aircraft. The squad includes veteran pilots Riccardo Filippi, Franco Maggiulli, Franco Pecorari, Paolo Zecchini, Antonello Flippone and Felice De Napoli. They will spend the night in Riyadh before taking off from KKIA on Thursday.
The flights will stop over at 16 airports en route before arriving in Tokyo on Aug. 9. The crew will be accorded a warm welcome in Riyadh.
The famous Raid Rome-Tokyo Flight was flagged off on Feb. 14, 1920, and reached Tokyo on May 3 the same year after flying 112 hours, covering more than 18,000 km.
