Ceramic Coating at Graz (LOWG)

Why schedule ceramic coating during a maintenance window?

The service locks the aircraft in a hangar for three to six days—longer than any ramp detailing—so it suits a gap in the flight schedule: annual inspection, avionics upgrade, interior refurbishment, or simply a quiet fortnight when the owner is travelling commercially. We decontaminate the paint to remove bonded contaminants, correct any oxidation or swirl marks with a single-stage polish, then lay down two ceramic layers and hold the aircraft under controlled temperature while the coating cross-links.

Because the finish cures chemically rather than by evaporation, rushing the process invites soft spots and early failure. A proper cure also means we hand over a warranty document and a maintenance plan that tells your ground crew—or the next detailer—exactly how to preserve the coating. Flight departments that plan around the downtime find the payback immediate: the first post-ceramic wash takes half the usual time, and the belly stays cleaner through a European winter.

What changes at Graz?

Graz sits at 1,120 feet elevation nine kilometres south of the city centre, with a single 3,000-metre runway and daily operating hours from 06:00 to 23:30 local. A night curfew runs until 06:00, though only quiet aircraft under ICAO Annex 16 Chapter 3 may operate during that window. MAGNUM FBO Graz provides general-aviation handling and matches the airport hours; as an IATA Level 2 facility, scheduled and charter flights require facilitation, but business jets under codes D and N are explicitly exempt—no slot coordination for your arrival or departure.

The long evening window—open until half past eleven every night—gives flexibility when positioning the aircraft into the hangar or collecting it at the end of the cure period. Graz is an airport of entry with customs on site, so an international inbound clears directly on the apron without a tech stop elsewhere. For a multi-day ceramic job, that means you can ferry the aircraft in from outside the Schengen area, hand it to us airside, and return with the same simplicity when the coating is signed off.

What does the handler expect when a third-party detailer occupies the hangar?

We coordinate with MAGNUM FBO Graz before your aircraft lands: hangar assignment, GPU or APU policy, and any airside-escort requirements if our technicians arrive outside normal handling hours. The FBO will ask for an estimated span—we give them the full six-day window even if we expect to finish earlier—and proof of liability insurance naming the handler and the airport authority.

Once the aircraft is inside, the handler typically wants a daily progress note so they can update you and manage hangar scheduling if another operator is waiting. We also confirm that all waste—spent polish, microfibre wash water, packaging from ceramic bottles—leaves the airside in compliance with LOWG environmental rules. At the end of the job we walk the FBO duty manager through the completed work, hand over the warranty document and maintenance plan, and arrange a time for you to collect the keys or for your crew to pre-flight.

How does paint correction fit into a ceramic programme?

Ceramic amplifies whatever sits beneath it: if the paint carries swirl marks, oxidation, or embedded rail dust, the coating will lock those defects in place for the next two years. We begin every ceramic job with a clay-bar decontamination to lift bonded contamination, then inspect the paint under high-intensity lighting. Any panel that shows hazing or scratches receives a single-stage machine polish to level the clear coat.

Brightwork—nacelle lips, leading edges, landing-gear chrome—is polished separately because the ceramic layer on metal needs a perfectly smooth substrate to bond correctly. We also prepare windscreens and cabin windows by stripping old wax or sealant; the hydrophobic layer we apply to glass is a different formulation from the paint ceramic, optimised for transparency and rain shedding rather than scratch resistance. The entire correction phase takes one to two days depending on the size of the airframe and the condition of the finish, and we document every polished panel in the photo report so you have a baseline for the next detailing cycle.

What happens during the cure, and can the aircraft be moved?

After the second ceramic layer goes on, the coating needs controlled temperature and time to cross-link into a hard, hydrophobic film. We keep the hangar doors closed, avoid dust-generating activity nearby, and do not touch the paint. The aircraft cannot be flown or even towed onto the ramp during this window—any rain, dew, or cold-soaking will interrupt the cure and leave soft spots that fail early.

If an AOG situation forces an early departure, we will tell you which panels are fully cured and which are not, but the warranty becomes void and you will likely need to strip and re-apply the coating within a few months. For that reason, most flight departments hold a spare day in the schedule as a buffer. Once the cure is complete, we perform a final wipe-down with a ceramic-safe quick detailer, verify water beading on every panel, and release the aircraft. The coating reaches full hardness over the following week, so we ask that the first wash after application uses only a rinseless or waterless method—no pressure, no brushes.

How do you document the work and train the flight department?

Every ceramic job closes with a digital photo report: before-and-after images of corrected panels, close-ups of brightwork, and shots of the water beading test on wings, fuselage, and glass. The report also lists which ceramic product went onto paint, which onto metal, and which onto transparencies, because each has a different maintenance protocol. You receive a printed warranty document that states the application date, the expected service life—typically twenty-four to thirty-six months—and the conditions that will void coverage: abrasive wash media, acidic cleaners, or a gap longer than ninety days between washes.

We also supply a one-page maintenance plan for your ground crew or your next handling agent. It explains how to rinse the aircraft without damaging the coating, which quick detailers are safe, and when to bring the airframe back for a ceramic top-up or a full correction-and-recoat cycle. If your chief pilot or FBO manager wants a fifteen-minute walk-around to discuss the care routine, we schedule that before you collect the aircraft. The goal is to make sure everyone who touches the jet understands that a ceramic finish is an asset, not just a shine.