Fleet Care Program at EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg (LFSB)

Why commit to a twelve-month programme rather than booking ad-hoc cleans?

Fleet programmes eliminate the coordination overhead. You send us your quarterly schedule once; we allocate crew, book apron time with Air Service Basel, arrange airside escort and GPU, and confirm each turnaround forty-eight hours ahead. Your dispatch desk calls one mobile number for changes or AOG requests, and that crew already knows your aircraft—cabin materials, cheat-line finish, avionics no-touch zones, preferred products.

The fixed monthly invoice covers a pre-agreed service calendar: typically a rinseless wash after every second or third rotation, a full interior detail each month, exterior correction twice a year, and brightwork restoration before peak charter season. Ad-hoc work—decon after a sand-belt diversion, belly scrub after a winter in the Alps—goes on the same invoice at the agreed rate. You budget appearance as a line item, not a surprise.

For charter operators working EuroAirport's mix of corporate, leisure and cargo traffic, the programme also means your aircraft consistently photographs well. Brokers notice; repeat clients notice. One fleet manager described it as "insurance that every departure looks like the first flight."

What changes at EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg that affects recurring detailing?

EuroAirport sits at 885 feet on the Rhine plain, three and a half kilometres north-west of Basel city centre, with Mulhouse twenty kilometres away and Freiburg forty-six. The binational layout—Swiss customs sector and French sector—means Air Service Basel's FBO and hangar sit in the Swiss sector at CH-4030 Basel-Airport, which simplifies airside access for crews and handlers working the private apron. Runway 15/33 stretches 3,900 metres; the shorter 07/25 runs 1,715 metres and handles lighter traffic and training circuits.

The airport is not slot-coordinated; COHOR lists it as Level 2, schedules facilitated, so turnaround windows are easier to confirm than at Geneva or Zurich. That flexibility matters for fleet work: we can schedule a two-hour interior detail between morning departure and afternoon positioning without waiting weeks for a slot.

Weather drives the calendar. Winter brings freezing fog and airfield frost; aircraft often cold-soak overnight, and leading edges collect ice even under covers. Spring pollen from the Rhine valley coats windscreens and nacelles. Summer thunderstorms leave water spots on polished aluminium if the aircraft sits on the apron unwashed. Autumn is the calmest season for exterior correction work—stable temperatures, lower humidity, fewer weather delays. We build the service calendar around these patterns so you're not polishing in January or applying hydrophobic sealant in a July heatstorm.

How does priority AOG cover work inside a fleet programme?

AOG cover means a two-person crew reaches your stand within four hours of the call, day or night, provided we hold an airside pass valid for the Swiss sector and the handler has opened the apron. We carry rinseless wash kit, cabin vacuum, glass cleaner, galley degreaser and microfibre in the van; for anything deeper—belly scrub, gear-bay decon, single-stage correction—we mobilise the full kit from our Italian base or the Air Service Basel hangar if materials are pre-positioned.

Priority applies because your aircraft is already in the programme: we know the paint system, the cabin spec, the brightwork condition, and any recurring trouble spots—a windscreen that hazes, a galley worktop that stains, a cheat line where the clear coat is thinning. The crew doesn't arrive cold. If the AOG call comes during a scheduled service day for another tail in your fleet, we adjust the calendar and bill the overtime separately; the monthly budget stays fixed.

One limitation: if your aircraft diverts to an airport where we have no airside pass or pre-arranged handler contact, response time stretches to twelve hours or longer. For fleets operating a dense European network, we can pre-position passes at three or four frequent-diversion airports; that discussion happens during the quarterly review.

What does the service history and photo documentation include?

Every visit generates a PDF report within twenty-four hours: date, stand location, services performed, products used, areas requiring attention, and photographs. Exterior shots cover the nose, both winglets, belly (if accessible without a lift), nacelles, and any brightwork we've polished. Interior shots document the galley, lavatory, cabin overview from the entry door, and close-ups of any stain, scuff or wear point we've noted in the tech log or communicated to your maintenance team.

The photographs are time-stamped and geotagged; they're useful for insurance records, pre-purchase inspections if you're rotating the fleet, and for showing a prospective charterer that the aircraft is maintained to a visible standard. Some operators append our reports to their own maintenance logs; others use them to track the lifespan of cabin materials—when the galley countertop was last compounded, when the leather was conditioned, when the windscreen was polished versus replaced.

Quarterly reviews compile the reports into a trend document: "Starboard winglet leading edge showing increased paint erosion; recommend single-stage correction before winter." "Galley backsplash staining recurring despite monthly deep clean; suggest OEM material replacement or protective film." You're not hunting through emails for service history; it's one file per tail, updated every ninety days.

Which aircraft and fleet sizes make sense for the programme at LFSB?

The programme is built for super-midsize to ultra-long-range business jets and ACJ or BBJ airframes that base at EuroAirport or return frequently enough—twice a month minimum—to justify the calendar structure. A Challenger 650 running weekly Basel–London–Basel rotations fits naturally; a Global 7500 operating long-haul charters from LFSB three times a month fits if the owner wants consistent appearance without coordinating each visit separately.

Fleet size matters less than rhythm. We've run programmes for single-aircraft corporate departments and for charter operators with five tails. The economics improve with multiple aircraft because we can schedule consecutive services on the same day—two quick turns and a full interior—using one crew and one apron booking, which reduces the per-aircraft cost and simplifies invoicing.

Light jets and turboprops are accepted only inside a fleet programme, not as standalone contracts. If your operation mixes a Phenom 300 and a Falcon 2000, we'll include the Phenom, but the pricing and service calendar are built around the larger airframe. Single light jets are referred to local handlers or to our ad-hoc service if the aircraft is transiting through another airport where we already hold a presence.

How do you coordinate with Air Service Basel and the Swiss-sector apron?

Air Service Basel operates the FBO and hangar in the Swiss sector at CH-4030 Basel-Airport, on the private apron in the Southwest Maintenance Area. We coordinate every scheduled service through their ground team: apron slot, GPU if the APU is deferred, tow if the aircraft needs to move from the commercial stand to the maintenance area, and airside escort when required. ASB is listed as the handling agent present at the airport; they manage fuel, permits, crew transport and customs, while we manage the appearance work.

For quick turns between legs—aircraft lands, we wash and vacuum, aircraft departs—we usually work at the stand where the handler has parked the jet, provided the apron allows water use and the turnaround window is long enough. For deeper work—monthly interior, exterior correction, brightwork—we request a slot inside or adjacent to the ASB hangar, where we have access to power, shelter from weather, and space to lay out materials without rushing for the next inbound.

The Swiss-sector location simplifies customs and access for crews transiting between Schengen and non-Schengen destinations. If your aircraft operates a mix of EU and Swiss legs, the FBO handles the paperwork while we handle the appearance; you're not coordinating two vendors across two regulatory zones.