Complete Detail at Geneva (LSGG)

What happens during a Complete Detail at Geneva?

We begin with an exterior dry wash to remove the top layer of soil, then move to paint decontamination: a chemical process that pulls embedded contaminants—industrial fallout, brake dust, insect proteins, jet-fuel mist—out of the clear coat without abrasion. Once the surface is clean at a molecular level, we perform a single-stage machine polish to restore gloss and eliminate light oxidation and swirl marks. Brightwork—nacelle rings, door handles, window frames—is polished separately by hand.

Inside, every surface is cleaned to Full Interior Detail standard: seats, panels, galleys, lavatories, flight deck, carpets, belts, vents. We finish with a hospital-grade disinfection of all touch points and soft goods. Before we release the aircraft we shoot a full photographic report—before and after—so you have dated evidence of condition. The report goes into the tech log or the sale dossier, whichever you need.

Duration depends on aircraft size and paint condition. A super-midsize in good baseline condition takes two days; an ultra-long-range jet with five years of European operations and no prior polish can take five. We give you the timeline after the first walk-around.

What changes at Geneva?

Geneva sits at 1411 feet elevation, four kilometres from the city centre, with a single runway—04/22, 3900 metres—serving scheduled, cargo and business aviation traffic. The airport is slot-coordinated; all GA and BA movements require a mandatory PPR requested through your handling agent, since operators cannot approach Slot Coordination Switzerland directly. Three handling agents are present at the airport: Signature Aviation operates from Terminal C3 on the south apron, Jet Aviation runs its own two-storey FBO at 18 Chemin des Papillons, and Dassault Aviation Business Services shares Terminal C3. All three staff their desks from 06:00 to 22:00 local, with call-out available on request outside those hours.

Take-offs are permitted between 06:00 and midnight, but Geneva restricts late departures: only three intercontinental flights may receive a slot after 22:00, and since January 2025 late take-offs carry a financial penalty. In practice, evening business aviation turnarounds compress into the window before 22:00. If you want a Complete Detail completed for a late-evening departure, we book hangar time and airside access days in advance, because the work cannot be rushed and FBO call-out for contractor escort adds cost and coordination overhead.

Customs, immigration and 24-hour security surveillance are on site at the business aviation terminal; airside access for our crew goes through the FBO. Water restrictions are not mentioned in the airport data, so we assume rinseless methods unless the handler confirms otherwise during the PPR process.

Why does Geneva's climate matter for a Complete Detail?

Geneva's position at the south-western tip of the lake, bracketed by the Jura to the north-west and the Alps to the south-east, creates a microclimate with sharp seasonal swings. Winters bring road salt, de-icing fluid carryover from neighbouring stands, and cold-soaked paint that holds contamination in the pores. Summers deliver intense UV at altitude, pollen from the surrounding valleys, and thermal cycling that accelerates oxidation on dark paint schemes.

If the aircraft has been based at Geneva or operated a winter European programme, the belly, gear bays and lower fuselage will carry a film of de-icing fluid residue, hydraulic mist and brake dust that a dry wash cannot remove. Paint decontamination pulls that layer out chemically, and the single-stage polish that follows brings back the depth that oxidation has muted. Brightwork around the engines and on the cheat line dulls faster here than at a coastal airport, because temperature swings are wider and the air is drier.

Inside, cabin materials suffer from the same thermal stress. Leather dries, plastics outgas, and touchscreens collect fingerprint oils that bake on under cabin sunlight. A Full Interior Detail reverses six months of molecular wear, and the disinfection step removes the biofilm that standard wipes leave behind.

How do we time a Complete Detail between legs at LSGG?

Most Complete Details at Geneva happen during a planned down period: the aircraft arrives after a charter series or a long positioning leg, the passengers disembark, and the crew leaves the jet with us for two to five days while they take leave or the owner attends meetings in the city. We coordinate the start and finish around your next departure slot, which the handler requests as part of the PPR.

If you operate a tight schedule, we can split the work: exterior decontamination and polish on days one and two, interior detail and disinfection on day three, with the aircraft available for a short positioning leg in between. That structure works when you have a morning departure, a same-day return, and a second departure three days later. The trade-off is two mobilisations instead of one, and two airside-access windows, which adds a small logistical overhead.

Because FBOs at Geneva staff desks until 22:00 and late take-offs are penalised, we avoid scheduling handover for late evening unless you have an intercontinental slot already confirmed. The photographic report is uploaded to a shared folder as soon as the final inspection is complete, so your chief pilot can review it from anywhere.

Where does a Complete Detail take place at Geneva?

All multi-day detailing happens in a hangar. Exterior decontamination and polishing require controlled temperature—paint that is too cold or too hot will not accept compound or polish evenly—and protection from wind-blown dust, which can re-contaminate a freshly polished surface in minutes on an open stand. Interior work demands the same shelter: cabin disinfection relies on dwell time, and you cannot leave doors open on the apron in winter without freezing the flight deck or letting moisture into the avionics bay.

Your handler arranges hangar access as part of the ground-service package. Signature, Jet Aviation and Dassault all have hangar space on the south apron, and availability depends on season and MTOW. We bring our own lighting, power and water (or rinseless chemistry, depending on airport rules), so the hangar does not need to be heated—just enclosed. If hangar space is tight and the weather is stable, we can perform the exterior work on a sheltered stand and move inside a smaller facility for the cabin detail, but that is a fallback, not the preferred method.

What does the photographic report include, and why does it matter?

The report is a dated, high-resolution record of the aircraft's appearance before and after the Complete Detail. We shoot the exterior in natural light from eight angles—nose, tail, both sides, both wings, belly (if the aircraft is on jacks or a lift is available), and close-ups of any area that required extra attention: leading edges, nacelle rings, the cheat line, winglets. Inside, we photograph the cabin by zone—forward seats, mid-cabin, galley, lavatory, aft seats, flight deck—and any OEM materials that were in poor condition at the start.

The before-and-after pairs go into a PDF with a cover page listing the aircraft registration, the ICAO code, the date range, and a summary of work performed. You can attach the PDF to the tech log, include it in a pre-buy data package, or file it as evidence of condition for insurance or lease-return purposes. If you are selling the aircraft, the report shows a prospective buyer that the paint has been decontaminated and polished, not just washed, and that the interior has been detailed to a clinical standard. That distinction can shift a negotiation by tens of thousands of euros, because it removes doubt.