Fleet Care Program at Lampedusa (LICD)

What changes at Lampedusa between winter and high season?

Lampedusa sits 70 feet above the Mediterranean on a single 1795-metre runway (08/26), half a kilometre from the town centre. Traffic is strongly seasonal: the airport reaches its peak in the summer period with tourism-focused scheduled and charter flights, and the operator itself describes intense air activity during the summer season. Expect apron congestion and short turnarounds in July and August; quiet conditions return in winter.

AST Aeroservizi runs the airport, the apron and passenger services on site, so there is no separate FBO—ground handling requests go to the operator. Lampedusa is a fully coordinated (Level 3) airport listed by Assoclearance; Universal Weather confirms slots are required. Arrivals must be planned against an allocated slot even in the low season, and summer PPR often closes weeks in advance. For fleets with recurring visits, the coordination burden is lighter when service windows are locked into the annual calendar and your crew knows the apron layout, the GPU positions and the operator's procedures before the peak begins.

How does a twelve-month program work for a fleet at Lampedusa?

We build a service calendar around your flight schedule: quick turns after revenue legs, monthly interior cleans during overnight stops, exterior washes and brightwork sessions timed to shoulder months or winter downtime. You nominate the tail numbers, we allocate the same crew to your aircraft throughout the year, and every visit goes into a shared service history with photos. One invoice covers all work for the month; one contact handles scheduling changes, AOG requests and quarterly reviews.

The program suits charter operators running seasonal circuits, corporate flight departments with a Mediterranean base, and any operation that values predictable costs over ad-hoc call-outs. Priority crew allocation means your aircraft move to the front of the queue during summer congestion, and 24/7 AOG cover ensures a belly panel or a cabin spill gets attention even when the apron is quiet. Fixed monthly budget per tail number removes the surprise of peak-season rates, and the quarterly appearance review keeps your ops team and our crew aligned on standards, wear patterns and any OEM material concerns that surface during the year.

What does Mediterranean climate do to paint and cabin between visits?

Lampedusa's island position puts aircraft into salt air, UV exposure and wind-blown dust every day they sit on the stand. Paint oxidises faster; leading edges and nacelles collect a brown film of salt and particulate within a week. Brightwork hazes over, and hydrophobic coatings lose bite after a handful of months if they are not maintained. Inside, sand tracks through the cabin on passenger shoes during charter turns, and Mediterranean humidity—especially in summer—encourages mildew in galley seals and lavatory grout if interiors are not cleaned monthly.

A twelve-month program spaces exterior work to match the rate of contamination rather than waiting for visible damage. Dry wash or rinseless wash after every few flights keeps the salt load down; a single-stage polish twice a year brings back gloss and preps the surface for the next six months. Monthly interior cleans catch the sand, the galley spills and the high-touch wear before it sets into OEM materials. The service history and photos document the condition at each visit, so you can see whether the schedule needs tightening or whether the aircraft is holding up well between sessions.

How do you time detailing work around charter legs and slots?

Lampedusa's slot coordination means every arrival has a fixed window, and summer apron congestion leaves little room for delay. Quick turns—dry wash, cabin tidy, galley restock—happen during the turnaround if the slot allows at least ninety minutes on the stand. Longer work waits for overnight stops or gaps in the charter calendar, typically shoulder months when the aircraft overnights between Mediterranean legs or returns to base for a few days.

We coordinate with your ops team and the handling agent to confirm stand availability, GPU access and airside escort before the aircraft lands. The service calendar flags which visits are quick turns and which are deep cleans or exterior sessions, so your crew knows what to expect and the tech log reflects the work completed. If a slot moves or a charter leg extends, the program's priority allocation means we hold crew availability for a revised window rather than bumping your aircraft to the next day. AOG requests—belly decon after a gear-bay fluid leak, or a no-touch avionics wipe after a pitot cover incident—get same-day attention regardless of the published calendar.

What is included in the fixed monthly budget per tail?

The fixed budget covers the agreed service calendar: quick turns after revenue flights, one monthly interior clean, and the scheduled exterior washes and brightwork sessions spread across the year. It includes crew allocation, materials (cleaning agents, microfibre, polish, protectant), service history updates and photos after every visit, and the quarterly appearance review with your operations team. AOG cover is included—if you need us on the ramp outside the calendar, we respond without a separate call-out fee, though consumables for unscheduled work (decon chemicals, replacement materials) are billed at cost.

The budget does not cover damage repair, paint correction beyond single-stage polish, or work on aircraft added mid-year without a contract amendment. If winter downtime allows a deeper exterior session—two-stage correction, nacelle compound, cheat-line detail—we propose it during the quarterly review and adjust the calendar and budget for the following period. The goal is predictable cost and no surprise invoices: you know in January what the year will cost, and the only variables are genuine additions you approve in advance.

Why does recurring work at a single base make sense for fleet appearance?

Recurring work at Lampedusa means the same crew sees your aircraft every month, learns the OEM cabin materials, the paint quirks, the high-wear zones around the galley and the lavatory, and the brightwork that needs extra attention. Service history builds visit by visit: we know when the last polish was, whether the belly is picking up more contamination than usual, whether a gear-bay door is developing a stain that suggests a fluid leak upstream. That continuity catches problems early and keeps standards consistent across the fleet.

For operations with multiple tail numbers on seasonal Mediterranean circuits, a single base also simplifies logistics. You do not negotiate rates and standards with a different handler at every stop; you do not chase photos and tech-log entries from three countries. The program handles scheduling, invoicing and documentation from one point of contact, and the quarterly review gives your ops team a single conversation about fleet-wide appearance rather than a dozen ad-hoc emails. When summer apron congestion arrives and every handler is stretched, your aircraft already have priority crew allocation and a service calendar that was locked in months earlier.