Exterior Dry Wash at Lyon-Bron (LFLY)

Why does a dry wash make sense at Lyon-Bron?

Lyon-Bron has no commercial airline traffic—the whole airport converted to business and general aviation in 1975 when scheduled services moved to Saint-Exupéry—so apron congestion is minimal and stand availability is rarely an issue. That predictability suits a waterless cleaning process: we can schedule the work around your departure slot without waiting for a wash-bay queue or competing with airliner ground-handling.

A dry wash uses no water and produces no runoff, which matters when environmental officers audit ramp activity. Aviation-approved polymer cleaners lift contaminants into microfibre cloths rather than sluicing them across the apron, so there is no discharge to manage and no need to tow the aircraft to a designated wash pad. The entire process happens at your assigned stand, whether you are overnighting or turning around between legs.

For flight departments running a regular schedule through Lyon—corporate shuttles, charter rotations—a recurring dry wash every two to four weeks keeps the exterior free of the hydraulic film and exhaust carbon that accumulate faster in high-cycle operations. One-off cleans remain available when an aircraft diverts in or arrives with visible belly grime before a client leg.

What changes at Lyon-Bron compared to other French business-aviation airports?

Lyon-Bron sits at 659 feet elevation with a single 1,820-metre runway (16/34), long enough for most super-midsize and large-cabin jets but shorter than Saint-Exupéry's parallel runways. The airport is not slot-coordinated—neither COHOR nor Universal Weather lists it as facilitated—so PPR is straightforward and schedule changes rarely cascade into cleaning delays.

Handling is provided by Aéroports de Lyon through the airport-operated business aviation terminal; because the entire airport is dedicated to business aviation, the terminal and apron operate as a single integrated facility rather than a separate enclave inside a commercial field. That simplicity speeds airside access: our team holds the necessary escort and airside passes, and we coordinate directly with the handling agent present at the airport to confirm stand assignment and GPU timing.

Lyon-Bron has no curfew listed in the published data, and operating hours are unrestricted, which means early-morning or late-evening turnarounds do not compress the cleaning window the way they might at noise-sensitive city airports. If your aircraft lands after 20:00 and departs at 08:00, we have the full night to complete a dry wash without rushing the belly degreasing or the nacelle detail.

How do you fit a dry wash between legs at Lyon-Bron?

We build the schedule around three variables: your departure time, whether the aircraft is on GPU or APU, and how much of the belly needs degreasing. A super-midsize jet with light soiling and an 08:00 departure can be cleaned overnight in four to five hours; an ultra-long-range aircraft arriving with oil streaks on the nacelles and carbon on the tail cone may need seven hours, which we discuss during the booking call.

If the turnaround is tight—say, a two-hour slot between an inbound charter and an outbound positioning—we prioritise the fuselage, wings and exterior windows so the aircraft looks presentable from the passenger door, then note in the tech log and photo report which areas were deferred. That transparency lets the chief pilot decide whether to schedule a full clean at the next overnight base or accept the partial result for a short domestic leg.

Because Lyon-Bron is a dedicated business-aviation field, apron movements are lighter than at a mixed-use airport, and handlers are accustomed to coordinating around maintenance or cleaning work. We confirm stand access and GPU disconnect time the afternoon before, then call ops one hour prior to arrival so the team is on the ramp when the engines shut down.

What does the belly and gear degreasing involve?

Hydraulic mist, engine oil and carbon residue collect on the belly skin, gear doors and nacelle undersides faster than on the upper fuselage, especially if the aircraft operates short legs with frequent gear cycles. A dry wash tackles those areas with citrus-based degreasers and stiff brushes, lifting the film without pressure-washing it into the apron drains.

We open accessible gear-bay doors—nose and mains—wipe down the visible structure, then close and placard them before moving to the nacelles. Leading edges and the lower cowl lip get individual attention because bug strikes and exhaust carbon bond to the paint in a way that waterless cleaner alone cannot shift; a light abrasive pad and polymer polish restore the finish without repainting.

Belly work adds one to two hours to the total duration, depending on how much oil has migrated aft from the APU or how much de-icing fluid residue remains from a winter departure. If the belly is heavily soiled and time is short, we photograph the condition, discuss it with the crew, and either extend the window or defer that section to the next scheduled clean.

How does airside access work at an airport entirely dedicated to business aviation?

Because Lyon-Bron has no airline terminal or passenger concourses, the business aviation apron is not a restricted island inside a larger complex—it is the airport. That simplifies escort procedures: our team holds permanent airside passes valid for the entire movement area, and we coordinate stand access through the single handling agent present rather than negotiating with multiple FBO security desks.

We confirm the stand number and any movement restrictions the afternoon before the arrival, then check in with the handler's duty officer on the day. If the aircraft is parked overnight and you prefer us to start after the crew has left, we collect the external power and chocks status from the handler and begin once the aircraft is cold-soaked and safe to touch.

Lyon-Bron's layout—one runway, one apron, one terminal—means there are no taxiway crossings or tug-lane conflicts to delay access. The team drives directly to the assigned stand, unloads the kit, and starts the inspection walk-around. If the aircraft needs to be towed for maintenance or refuelling during the clean, we pause, move the kit, and resume once it is back on stand.

What documentation and photos do you provide after the clean?

Every dry wash closes with a dated entry in the tech log—or a separate service sheet if the captain prefers not to use the log—listing the areas cleaned, products used, and any deferred items. If we skipped the belly because of time or could not access a gear bay because the door actuator was pinned, that note goes into the report so the next station knows what remains.

A photo set (typically eight to twelve images) is uploaded to a shared folder within two hours of completion: nose-on, tail-on, both profiles, close-ups of the cheat line, nacelles, belly and any area that arrived with visible damage or heavy soiling. Those images serve three purposes: they prove the condition we returned the aircraft in, they document pre-existing paint chips or corrosion for the maintenance tracker, and they give the flight-department manager a visual record to compare against the next clean.

If you run a fleet program with multiple aircraft rotating through Lyon-Bron, we maintain a cleaning log that tracks the date, duration and condition score for each tail number. That history helps you decide whether to shorten the interval during summer bug season or extend it during low-utilisation winter months, and it flags which aircraft consistently arrive dirtier than others—sometimes a sign of a leaking seal or an APU that is burning oil.