STA, 1 June 2020 - Slovenian frontline staff will get an unprecedented thank you for their work during the coronavirus epidemic as military planes and US fighter jets conduct a flypast of the entire country on Monday, the first day after the formal end of the epidemic.
Three Slovenian Pilatus PC-9 will be joined by for the six American F-16 fighters, taking off from Aviano air base in Italy, will join up around Jesenice in the west just after 1pm and then fly a loop over the entire country east and then back west.
The flight path15. PVL in 31. lovski polk @US_EUCOM iz @AirAviano 1. junija med 13.10 in 14.25 na preletu nad RS za zdravstveno osebje, CZ, @sos112, prostovoljce, vse v boju proti #COVID19. V imenu MO, @Slovenskavojska, @URS_ZR, @Policija in @USEmbassySLO, #AlliesPartnersFriends – iskrena hvala pic.twitter.com/IPAl1zNkiA
— MO RS (@MO_RS) June 1, 2020
The flypast will be in two echelons a mile apart at an altitude of about 1,200 metres and a speed of 425 km/h.
The commander of the Slovenian air force, Lt-Col Janez Gaube, said on Friday that the flypast was "a clear, loud and visible thank you to all the people who gave it their all in the fight against Covid-19."
Lt-Col Ben Shaha, the US military attaché to Slovenia, added that the virus may have slowed down cooperation a bit but could not defeat the alliance.
