This morning at 09:48 CET an Italian Customs ATR P-72B (reg. MM62311) has departed from Lille, northern France, to make a patrol mission over the coast of France and Belgium overlooking the English Channel.
The mission lasted 5 hours and the Italian ATR landed back in Lille at 14:41.
The aircraft operated as a Frontex asset within the mission that aims to counter migrant movements between the continent and Europe and the UK.
This aircraft has already participated in Frontex missions in the past, flying over the sea between Spain and Morocco or over the Aegean Sea.
Usually, when it operates on behalf of Italian national missions, the aircraft is used for patrols on the Sicily Channel, the Ionian Sea or the Adriatic Sea.